MAR   3   191  fl 


i^osmi  s^v 


d> 


Division  3352.407 

Section     •'-r4  Co 


OUTLINES 


MAR    S   191  ( 


OF 


NEW  Testament  History. 


Rev.   FRANCIS  E.   GIGOT.  D.D., 

Mooney  Pto/essor  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  in  St,  Joseph's  Seminary, 
Dunwoodie.  New  York, 


SECOND   AND   REVISED   EDITION. 


New  York,  Cincinnati,  Chicago. 
BKNZIGE^R     BROTHERS, 


PRINTERS   TO   THE 
BOLY   APOSTOLIC    SEB 


PUBLISHERS  OF 
benziger's  MAGAZIHB 


flibtl  ®b0tat 


J.  B.  HOGAN,  S.S.,  D.D., 

Censor  Deputatus, 


fmprtmatur^ 


i- MICHAEL  AUGUSTINE, 

Archbishop  of  New  York. 


New  York,  July  20,  1898. 


COPYRIGHT,    1898,   BY  BENZIGER   BROTHERS. 


PREFACE 


The  present  is  a  companion  volume  to  the  "  Outlines  of 
Jewish  History  "  published  some  months  ago.  It  deals 
with  the  historical  data  supplied  by  the  inspired  writings  of 
the  New  Testament,  in  exactly  the  same  manner  as  the  pre- 
ceding work  did  with  the  various  events  recorded  in  the 
sacred  books  of  the  Old  Testament.  In  both  volumes  the 
writer  has  pursued  the  same  purpose  and  followed  the  same 
methods. 

Both  works  have  been  prepared  for  the  special  use  of 
theological  students,  not,  however,  without  the  hope  that 
they  may  prove  serviceable  to  a  much  larger  number  of 
readers,  such  as  teachers  of  Bible  history  in  Sunday-schools, 
colleges,  academies,  and  the  like.  In  neither  volume  has  it 
been  the  aim  of  the  writer  to  supply  a  substitute  for  the 
Bible  itself,  but  rather  a  help  towards  a  more  careful  perusal 
of  the  inspired  record.  With  this  purpose  in  view,  he  has 
set  forth  such  results  of  modern  investigation  as  may  render 
the  sacred  narrative  more  intelligible  and  attractive.  Many 
of  the  difficulties  which  are  daily  being  raised  on  historical 
grounds  are  also  touched  upon,  and  the  biblical  student  is 
supplied  with  constant  references  to  further  sources  of  in- 
formation. 

Like  the  historical  writings  of  the  New  Testament,  the 
present  volume  contains  two  distinct,  though  very  closely 
connected  parts.  The  first  part,  gathered  from  the  four 
narratives  of  our  canonical  gospels,  describes  the  life  and 


6  PREFACE. 

times  of  Our  Lord ;  the  second,  based  mainly  on  the  book 
of  the  Acts,  presents  a  brief  sketch  of  the  labors  of  Peter, 
Paul,  James,  and  John,  the  leading  apostles  of  Christ.  The 
first  part,  under  the  title  of  "  The  Gospel  History,"  takes 
up  the  sacred  narrative  at  the  point  where  it  was  left  in  the 
"  Outlines  of  Jewish  History,"  and  deals  with  the  three-and- 
thirty  years  of  Our  Lord's  mortal  life  ;  the  second,  entitled 
"  The  Apostolic  History,"  narrates  the  principal  events 
connected  with  the  planting  and  early  spread  of  Chris- 
tianity in  the  Roman  Empire  down  to  the  year  98  a.d. 

As  an  additional  help  to  the  student,  two  maps — one  of 
Palestine  in  the  Time  of  Our  Lord,  the  other  of  the  Roman 
Empire  in  the  Apostolic  Times — have  been  especially  pre- 
pared, and  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  the  volume,  together 
with  a  Chronological  Table  established  on  the  now  com- 
monly admitted  fact  that  the  birth  of  Our  Lord  took  place 
some  years  before  what  is  called  the  Christian  era. 

July  16,  1898. 


NOTE   TO   THE   SECOND    EDITION. 

This  second  edition  is  not  a  recast  of  the  first  which 
appeared  some  years  ago.  Much  critical  and  historical 
work  has  indeed  been  done  meantime  by  students  of  the 
New  Testament  Literature.  It  does  not  seem,  however,  that 
the  results  so  far  reached  require  a  re-writing  of  the  present 
work.  The  few  changes  introduced  into  this  second  edition 
are  therefore  of  comparatively  little  importance  and  consist 
chiefly  in  verbal  modifications. 
November  4,  1902. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  FIRST. 

THE  GOSPEL  HISTORY, 

First  Period :  Before  Our  Lord's  Public  Ministry. 

rAGB 

CHAPTER  I. 
Geography  of  Palestine  in  the  Time  of  Christ         .        .    13 

CHAPTER  II. 
•'In  THE  Days  OF  King  Herod"      .        .        •        c        •        •    21 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Incarnation  and  Nativity      .        o        .        e        .        «    33 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Early  Infancy e       c       -        .    48 

CHAPTER  V. 
Life  of  Christ  in  Nazareth    .        .        .        «        c        c        •    58 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Social  and  Religious  Condition  of  the  Jews  during 

the  Lifetime  of  Jesus 70 

7 


8  CONTENTS. 

Second  Period :  Our  Lord's  Public  Ministry. 
CHAPTER  VII. 

PAGE 

The  Public  Work  of  Christ 85 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
The  Early  Days  of  Christ's  Public  Ministry     .       .       .    92 

CHAPTER  IX. 
•^FiRST  Year's  Ministry  (April,  a.d.  27-March,  a.d.  28) .        .  105 

CHAPTER  X. 
'Second  Year's  Ministry  (March,  a.d.  28-April,  a.d.  29)       .  121 

CHAPTER  XI. 

First   Part   of    Third  Year's    Ministry  (April-October, 

A.D.  29) 133 

Section  I.  Jesus  and  His  Enemies 133 

CHAPTER  XII. 

First  Part  of  Third  Year's  Ministry  (concluded)  (April- 
October,  a.d.  29) 142 

Section  II.  Jesus  and  His  Disciples 142 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Second  Part  of  Third  Year's  Ministry  (October-Decem- 
ber, a.d.  29)         . 154 


L 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

hird  Part  of  Third  Year's   Ministry  (December,  a.d, 
29-February,  A.D.  30) 165 


CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Gospel  Miracles  or  Supernatural  Facts  Recorded 
DURING  the  Public  Ministry  of  Christ        .        .        .  172 


CONTENTS,  9 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

PAGE 

The  Last  Days  or  Christ's  Public  Ministry        .       .        .180 

Third  Period :  The  Passion  and  Resurrection. 

CHAPTER  XVn. 
The  Last  Pasch  Celebrated  by  Our  Lord  .  0        .  191 

CHAPTER  XVIIL 
The  Arrest  and  Trial  of  Jesus I99 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
The  Crucifixion 3" 

CHAPTER  XX. 
The  Risen  Life  «I9 


PART  SECOND. 

THE  APOSTOLIC  HISTORY, 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
Apostolic  Work  in  Palestine  (a.  d.  30-44)     .       .        .        .229 

CHAPTER    XXIL 

St.  Paul's  Life  and  Work  before  His  First  Missionary 
Journey       ..........  245 

CHAPTER  XXIIL 
St.  Paul's  First  Missionary  Journey    .        .        ,        .        .259 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
St.  Paul's  Second  Missionary  Journey         .        •        .        •  173 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
St.  Paul's  Third  Missionary  Journey  .        ,        .        .        .287 


10  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXVI, 

FACB 

St.  Paxil's  Arrest  and  Imprisonment     .        •       c       •        «  301 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 
The  Last  Years  of  St.  Paul  ..,.«..  3x6 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
Labors  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  James        ,        .        •  .332 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Labors  of  St.  John.    Condition  of  the  Church  at  His 
Death 346 

Chronological  Table 359 

General  Index 00.  361 

Map  of  Palestine  in  the  Time  of  Our  Lord         .        .        .  367 
Map  for  the  Study  of  the  Apostolic  History    o       o        .  369 


PART    FIRST. 

THE   GOSPEL   HISTORY. 

OR 

The  Life  and  Times  of  Christ. 


SYNOPSIS  OF  CHAPTER  I. 
Geography  of  Palestine  in  the  Time  of  ChrisTc 


I.  Various  Names  :  Palestine :  the  most  common  •  origin. 


II.  Site  and  Size 


1.  Site:  Latitude   and  Longitude. — Bound- 

aries.— Admirable  situation. 

2.  Size:  Length. — Breadth. — Total  area. 


III.  General  Aspect  and  Divisions. 


IV.  Physical   De- 
scription OF 


I.  Eastern 
Palestine  : 


2.  Western 
Palestine  : 


The    high    table-land    beyond 

Jordan. 
Rivers  and  mountains. 

Sea-coast. 


Three  long  Par- 
allel Tracts: 


The  hilly 


country. 
The    Jordan 
valley. 
Mountains  (begin  in  the  south 

and  proceed  northward). 
Lowlands  (three  principal). 
Rivers:    Only  one;  streams  or 

torrents  besides. 
Lakes. 


IS 


FIRST  PERIOD: 

BEFORE  OUR  LORD'S  PUBLIC  MINISTRY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

GEOGRAPHY   OF   PALESTINE   IN   THE   TIME   OF   CHRIST. 

1.  Various  Names.  Palestine,  the  scene  of  Gospel 
history,  has  in  different  ages  been  designated  by  the  fol- 
lowing names :  (i)  the  land  of  Chanaan  ;  (2)  the  land  of 
Promise ;  (3)  the  land  of  Israel ;  (4)  the  land  of  Juda 
or  Judaea;  (5)  the  Holy  Land;  (6)  Palestine.  This 
last,  by  far  the  most  common  name,  was  originally  applied 
by  the  Hebrews  merely  to  the  strip  of  maritime  plain  in- 
habited by  their  encroaching  neighbors,  the  Philistines, 
hence  the  name  ;  but  ultimately  it  became  the  usual  appel- 
lation for  the  whole  country  of  the  Jews. 

2.  Site  and  Size.  Palestine  lies  between  the  31°  and 
33°  20'  of  north  latitude,  and  between  the  34°  20'  and 
36°  20'  of  east  longitude.  In  the  time  of  Christ  it  was 
limited  on  the  west  by  Phenicia  and  the  Great  or  Mediter- 
ranean Sea  ;  on  the  south  by  the  Brook  of  Egypt,  the 
Negeb,  the  south  end  of  the  Dead  Sea,  and  the  Arnon 
river  ;  on  the  east  by  Arabia  ;  on  the  north  by  Anti-Leba- 
non, Lebanon,  and  Phenicia.      Its  situation  in  the  temperate 

13 


14  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

zone,  in  the  centre  of  the  ancient  world,  has  often  been 
admired :  it  combined,  with  a  sufficient  isolation  from 
heathen  influences,  a  position  well  suited  to  the  preserva- 
tion and  spread  of  the  true  religion  among  mankind. 

Like  many  regions  which  have  played  a  great  part  in  the 
world's  history,  Palestine  is  a  very  small  country.  Its 
average  length  is  about  150  miles,  and  its  average  breadth 
west  of  the  Jordan  a  little  more  than  40  miles,  east  of  the 
Jordan  a  little  less  than  40  miles.  The  total  area  between 
the  Jordan  and  the  Great  Sea  is  about  6600  square  miles  ; 
the  portion  east  of  the  Jordan  has  an  area  of  about  5000 
or  perhaps  6000  square  miles, — making  the  whole  area  of 
Palestine  12,000  or  13,000  square  miles,  or  about  equal  to 
the  two  States  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  together. 

3.  General  Aspect  and  Divisions.  A  single  glance 
at  a  physical  map  of  the  Holy  Land  is  quite  sufficient  to 
make  us  realize  that  its  general  aspect  is  that  of  a  moun- 
tainous country.  It  owes  this  hilly  appearance  to  the  great 
Lebanon  range,  whose  eastern  branch  (the  Anti-Lebanon) 
is  prolonged  through  Palestine  by  two  distinct  chains  of 
mountains,  the  one  on  the  west  side,  with  the  exception  of 
one  broad  depression  (the  plain  of  Esdrgelon),  extending 
as  far  as  the  desert  of  Sinai,  the  other,  on  the  east  of  the 
Jordan,  reaching  as  far  as  the  mountains  of  Arabia  Petraea. 
To  the  west  of  each  one  of  its  mountain-chains  Palestine 
has  a  large  plain,  namely,  the  valley  of  the  Jordan  and  the 
sea-coast,  so  that  the  Holy  Land  is  naturally  divided  into 
four  parallel  tracts  extending  north  and  south.  Three  of 
these  parallel  tracts  are  almost  entirely  situated  to  the  west 
of  the  Jordan  and  are  usually  designated  under  the  name 
of  Western  Palestine,  while  the  track  altogether  east  of 
the  Jordan  is  known  as  Eastern  Palestine  or  the  Trans- 
jordanic  region. 

In  the  time  of  Christ  Eastern  Palestine  comprised  several 
great  tracts  of  country,  the  exact  limits  of  which  cannot  be 


GEOGRAPHY    OF    PALESTINE   IN    THE    TIME    OF   CHRIST.     1 5 

defined  at  the  present  day.  These  regions  were  (i)  Peraea 
Proper,  which  lay  chiefly  between  the  rivers  Arnon  and 
Jabbok;  (2)  Galaaditis  (Galaad);  (3)  Batanea  (Basan); 
(4)  Gaulanitis  (Golan);  (5)  Ituraea ;  (6)  Trachonitis', 
(7)  Abilene ;  (8)  and  finally,  the  Decapolis,  which  lay 
partly  west  of  the  Jordan. 

The  country  west  of  the  Jordan  included  only  three 
great  regions,  viz.,  Judaea,  Samaria,  and  Galilee.  Of 
these  regions  Judaea  was  the  most  famous.  It  extended 
along  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea  almost  as  far 
north  as  Mount  Carmel,  but  on  the  northeast  its  limit  did 
not  extend  quite  as  far  as  Sichem.  Its  southern  part 
formed  a  portion  of  Idumaea,  and  it  extended  westward 
from  the  Dead  Sea  to  the  Mediterranean.  It  was  about  40 
miles  wide,  and  was  divided  into  eleven  districts  whose 
metropolis  was  Jerusalem.  North  of  Judaea  lay  Samaria, 
which  derived  its  name  from  the  ancient  capital  of  the 
kingdom  of  Israel,  and  whose  central  position  in  Western 
Palestine  gave  it  great  political  importance.  Finally,  north 
of  Samaria  was  Galilee,  50  miles  long  by  20  to  25  miles 
wide.  It  was  divided  into  Upper  or  Northern,  and 
Lower  or  Southern,  Galilee. 

4.  Physical  Description  of  Eastern  and  Western 
Palestine.  The  country  beyond  Jordan  consists  in  a 
table-land  whose  length  is  about  150  miles  from  the  Anti- 
Lebanon  on  the  north  to  the  Arnon  river  on  the  south, 
and  whose  breadth  varies  from  30  to  80  miles  from  the 
edge  of  the  Jordan  valley  to  the  edge  of  the  Arabian  desert. 
Its  surface,  which  is  tolerably  uniform,  has  an  average  ele- 
vation of  about  2000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and 
while  its  western  edge  is  broken  by  deep  ravines  running 
into  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  its  eastern  edge  melts  away 
into  the  desert. 

Eastern  Palestine  has  three  natural  divisions,  marked  by 
the  three  rivers  which  cut  it  at  right  angles  to  the  Jordan — 


l6  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY, 

the  Arnon,  the  Jabbok,  and  the  Yarmuk.     Across  the 

northernmost  of  these  divisions,  which  extends  from  Anti- 
Lebanon  to  the  Yarmuk,  "  the  limestone  which  forms  the 
basis  of  the  country  is  covered  by  volcanic  deposits.  Thi 
stone  is  basalt,  the  soil  is  rich,  red  loam  resting  on  beds  of 
ash,  and  there  are  vast  *  harras '  or  eruptions  of  lava,  sud- 
denly cooled  and  split  open  into  the  most  tortuous  shapes. 
Down  the  edge  of  the  Jordan  valley  and  down  the  border 
of  the  desert  run  rows  of  extinct  volcanoes.  The  centre  of 
this  northern  province  is  a  great  plain,  perhaps  50  miles 
long  by  20  miles  broad,  scarcely  broken  by  a  hill,  and 
almost  absolutely  without  trees.  To  the  west  of  this,  above 
the  Jordan,  is  the  hilly  and  once  well-wooded  district  ot 
Jaulan  (Golan  of  Scripture) ;  to  the  east  the  *  harras '  and 
extinct  volcanoes  already  noticed  ;  and  in  the  southeast, 
the  high  range  of  Jebel  Hauran.  All  beyond  is  desert 
draining  to  the  Euphrates."  * 

In  the  second  division  of  Eastern  Palestine,  which  ex- 
tends from  the  Yarmuk  to  the  Jabbok,  the  volcanic  ele- 
ments almost  entirely  disappear  and  the  limestone  comes 
:nto  view  again.  The  surface  of  the  country  is  generally 
made  up  of  high  ridges  covered  with  forests  and  furnishing 
rich  pasturage  ;  eastward,  there  are  plains  covered  with 
luxuriant  herbage. 

The  third  division  of  the  Transjordanic  region  lies  be- 
tween the  Jabbok  and  the  Arnon  rivers.  In  it  "  the  ridges 
and  forests  alike  diminish,  till  by  the  north  of  the  Dead 
Sea,  the  country  assumes  the  form  of  an  absolutely  treeless 
plateau,  in  winter  bleak,  in  summer  breezy  and  fragrant. 
This  plateau  is  broken  only  by  deep,  wide,  warm  valleys 
like  the  Arnon,  across  which  it  rolls  southward ;  eastward 
it  is  separated  from  the  desert  by  low,  rolling  hills."  f 

The  country  west  of  the  Jordan,  or  Western  Palestine, 

•  G.  A.  Smith,  The  Historical  Geography  of  the  Holy  Land,  1897,  p.  SS4' 

t  G.  A.  Smith,  ibid.,  p.  535. 


GEOGRAPHY   OF    PALESTINE    IN    THE    TIME    OF   CHRIST.    1 7 

by  far  the  most  important  in  Gospel  history,  is  naturally 
divided  into  three  long  parallel  tracts  extending  north  and 
south  : 

(i)  Sea-coast.  This  tract  is  a  plain,  the  main  portion 
of  which  extends  without  a  break  from  the  desert  below 
Gaza  to  the  ridge  of  Mount  Carmel.  A  great  part  of  this 
plain  is  flat  and  naturally  fertile.  It  is  intersected  by  deep 
gullies  which  have  high  earthen  banks,  and  through  some 
of  which  flow  perennial  streams.  The  neighborhood  of 
these  streams  is  marshy,  especially  towards  the  north.  This 
main  portion  of  the  maritime  plain  is  some  80  miles  long 
and  from  100  to  200  feet  above  the  sea,  with  low  cliffs  near 
the  Mediterranean  ;  towards  the  north  it  is  8  miles,  and 
near  Gaza  20  miles,  broad.  North  of  the  headland  of 
Carmel,  which  comes  within  200  yards  of  the  sea,  is  the 
second  and  narrower  portion  of  the  maritime  plain  extend- 
ing to  Phenicia  through  the  territory  of  Acre  ;  very  near 
this  town  the  plain  has  an  average  width  of  about  5  miles 
and  is  remarkably  fertile. 

(2)  The  Hilly  Country.  Next  to  the  coast-plain  east- 
ward comes  the  high  table-land,  which  gives  to  Western 
Palestine  the  aspect  of  a  hilly  region.  This  tract  is  about 
25  miles  wide,  and  its  eastern  slopes  are  extremely  steep 
and  rugged.  The  fertility  of  this  highland  region  improves 
gradually  as  one  goes  northward. 

The  southern  district  below  Hebron  is  mostly  made  up 
of  barren  uplands.  Passing  a  little  farther  north  into 
Judaea,  we  find  the  central  and  northern  parts  of  the  hilly 
country  scarcely  more  fertile,  for  the  soil  is  poor  and 
scanty,  and  springs  are  very  rare  ;  its  western  and  north- 
western parts,  being  reached  by  sea-breezes,  offer  a  better 
vegetation,  olives  abound,  and  some  thickets  of  pine  and 
laurel  are  to  be  noticed  ;  the  eastern  part  is  an  uninhabita- 
ble tract  known  as  the  wilderness  of  Judaea. 

Proceeding   northward   from   Judaea   to   Samaria,   the 


l8  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

central  section  of  Western  Palestine,  the  country  gradually 
opens  and  is  more  inviting.  Its  rich  plains  become  gradu- 
ally larger;  the  valleys  are  tillable  and  possess  springs; 
there  are  orange-groves  and  orchards;  the  mountains  are 
still  bare  of  wood;  northwest  of  Nablous,  however,  the 
slopes  are  dotted  with  fields  of  corn  and  tracts  of  wood. 

Proceeding  still  northward,  we  reach  Galilee,  the  north- 
ernmost division  of  Western  Palestine,  where  we  find  the 
plain  of  Esdraelon,  15  square  miles  in  extent.  The  vegeta- 
tion is  more  luxuriant  here  than  elsewhere  west  of  the 
Jordan,  and  springs  are  abundant.  The  hills  are  richly 
wooded  with  oaks,  maples,  poplars;  covered  with  wild 
flowers,  rich  herbage,  etc.  East  of  these  hills  is  the 
rounded  mass  of  Mount  Thabor,  covered  with  oaks  and 
contrasting  with  the  bare  slopes  of  the  Little  Hermon 
about  4  miles  distant  to  the  southwest.  North  of  Thabor 
is  the  plain  El  Buttauf,  of  a  similar  nature  to  that  of 
Esdraelon,  but  much  more  elevated. 

(3)  The  Jordan  Valley.  This  valley  extends  from 
the  base  of  Mount  Hermon  to  the  southern  shore  of  the 
Dead  Sea.  Its  width  varies  from  half  a  mile  to  5  miles; 
at  some  points  it  is  12  miles  broad.  At  the  foot  of  Mount 
Hermon  this  valley  is  about  1000  feet  above  the  sea;  12 
miles  below,  it  is  upon  the  sea-level;  10  miles  farther 
south  it  is  lower  by  692  feet;  and  65  miles  farther,  at  the 
Dead  Sea,  it  is  1292  feet  below  the  level  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean. The  mountains  on  either  side  reach  a  great  alti- 
tude, some  points  being  4000  feet  high.  These  heights, 
combined  with  the  deep  depression  of  the  valley,  afford  a 
great  variety  of  temperature,  and  bring  into  close  proximity 
productions  usually  found  widely  apart. 

Mountains,  Lowlands,  Rivers,  and  Lakes  of 
Western  Palestine.  Along  the  coast  the  only  moun- 
tain of  importance  is  the  ridge  of  Carmel,  the  highest  point 
of  which  is  about  1750  feet.     In  the  hilly  region,  the  best- 


GEOGRAPHY    OF    PALESTINE   IN    THE    TIME    OF    CHRIST,    I9 

known  points  of  elevation  are:  Hebron,  3000  feet;  Mount 
Olivet,  2600  feet;  Mounts  Hebal  and  Garizim,  3000  feet; 
Little  Hermon  and  Thabor,  1900  feet. 

The  three  principal  lowlands  are:  (i)  the  maritime  plain 
subdivided  into  Philistia,  the  plain  of  Saron,  and  the  plain 
of  Acre;  (2)  the  plain  of  Esdraelon;  (3)  the  valley  of  the 
Jordan. 

The  most  important  river  of  Palestine  is  the  Jordan. 
At  the  junction  of  its  three  principal  sources  it  is  45  feet 
wide  and  flows  in  a  channel  from  10  to  20  feet  below  the 
level  of  the  plain.  It  traverses  successively  the  lakes  of 
Merom  and  Genesareth,  and  empties  itself  into  the  Dead 
Sea  after  an  actual  course  of  260  miles,  although  the  dis- 
tance between  its  source  and  the  Dead  Sea  is  not  more 
than  136  miles  in  a  straight  line.  Its  width  varies  from  45 
to  185  feet,  and  its  depth  from  3  to  12  feet. 

Three  things  are  chiefly  noticeable  in  connection  with 
this  river,  namely:  (i)  its  enormous  fall  of  nearly  3000  feet; 
(2)  its  endless  windings;  (3)  the  absence  of  towns  on  its 
banks.  The  other  streams  of  Western  Palestine  worthy  of 
mention  are  the  Leontes,  the  Belus,  the  Cison,  and  the 
Zerka. 

The  three  principal  lakes  are  the  lake  of  MeroiXl,  the 
lake  of  Genesareth,  and  the  Dead  Sea. 


SYNOPSIS   OF   CHAPTER   II. 
"In    the    Days    of    King    Herod. 


Herod, 
King  of  JuDiEA. 


1.  Origin  and  Early  Life. 

2.  Accession  to  the  Jewish  Throne. 

3.  Consolidation  of  his  Power. 


II. 

Public  Works  in 


!: 


Jerusalem:  Theatre;  Palace;  Temple. 
Palestine  and  Foreign  Countries. 


III. 

Social  Life  in 

Jerusalem. 


1.  The  Court  and  the  Upper  Classes. 

2.  The    People    and    their   Hatred    of 

Herod. 


IV. 

Religious    Condition 
OF  THE  Jews. 


'  I.  Jerusalem   the   Religious  Centre   of 
the  Jewish  World. 

2.  Heathenism   Widespread    in    Pales- 

tine. 

3.  The  Messianic  Expectation. 


V. 
Last  Period  of 
Herod's  Reign. 


1.  Domestic  Affairs  of  Herod. 

2.  Condition   of   Palestine  at    Herod'* 

Death. 
20 


CHAPTER  II. 


§  I.  Herod ^  king  of  Judcea, 

I.  Origin  and  Early  Life.  Herod,  whose  last  years 
of  reign  mark  the  beginning  of  New  Testament  history,  did 
not,  as  was  claimed  by  his  partisans,  descend  from  one  of 
the  noble  Jewish  families  which  returned  from  Babylon, 
but  belonged  to  the  despised  children  of  Edom,  whom  the 
valiant  John  Hyrcanus  had  formerly  conquered  and  forci- 
bly converted  to  the  Jewish  faith.  He  was  the  second  son 
of  the  shrewd  Antipater,  who  during  the  rule  of  the  weak 
Machabean  prince  Hyrcanus  II.  gradually  became  the  real 
master  of  Judaea  under  the  title  of  procurator  conferred 
upon  him  by  Julius  Caesar,  and  who  profited  by  this  fulness 
of  power  to  appoint  Herod,  then  only  twenty-five  years  old, 
to  the  government  of  Galilee. 

In  that  province  Herod  soon  displayed  the  energy  which 
ever  characterized  him.  He  crushed  a  guerrilla  warfare, 
and  put  to  death  Ezechias,  its  leader,  and  nearly  all  his 
associates.  This  aroused  the  indignation  of  the  patriots  of 
Jerusalem,  and  Herod,  as  professing  the  Jewish  religion, 
was  summoned  to  appear  before  the  great  Sanhedrim  for 
having  arrogated  to  himself  the  power  of  life  and  death. 
He  appeared,  but  escaped  condemnation  through  the  inter- 
ference of  Hyrcanus  II.,  and  took  refuge  near  Sextus  Caesar, 
the  president  of  Syria. 

On  the  murder  of  Julius  Caesar  (b.c.  44),  and  the  posses- 

21 


22  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

sion  of  Syria  by  Cassius,  Antipater  and  Herod  changed 
sides,  and  in  return  for  substantial  services  Herod  was 
recognized  as  governor  of  Coele-Syria,  that  is,  of  the  fertile 
valley  between  Lebanon  and  Anti-Lebanon.  When  the 
battle  of  Philippi  (b.c.  41)  placed  the  Roman  world  in  the 
hands  of  Antony  and  Octavius,  the  former  obtained  Asia. 
Once  more  Herod  knew  how  to  gain  the  new  ruler,  and  he 
became  tetrarch  of  Judaea,  with  the  promise  of  the  crown 
if  all  went  well.* 

2.  Accession  to  the  Jewish  Throne.  Forced  the 
following  year,  by  an  irruption  of  the  Parthians,  who  had 
espoused  the  cause  of  his  rival  Antigonus  (the  son  of  Aris- 
tobulus  IL),  to  abandon  Jerusalem,  Herod  first  betook 
himself  to  Egypt,  and  then  to  Rome.  There,  owing  chiefly 
to  the  influence  of  Antony,  he  was  declared  king  of  Judaea 
by  the  Roman  senate,  and,  preceded  by  the  consuls  and 
the  magistrates,  he  walked  in  procession  between  Antony 
and  Octavius  to  the  capitol,  where  the  usual  sacrifices  were 
offered  and  the  decree  formally  laid  up  in  the  archives. 

After  an  absence  of  barely  three  months,  Herod  was 
again  in  Palestine,  where,  at  the  head  of  an  army,  he  soon 
made  himself  master  of  Galilee.  He  next  set  himself  at 
work  to  take  the  Holy  City.  But  before  investing  it — which 
he  did  in  the  early  spring  of  B.C.  37 — he  repaired  to  Sa- 
maria to  wed  the  unfortunate  Machabean  princess,  Mari- 
amne,  betrothed  to  him  five  years  before.  The  uncle  of  that 
ill-fated  queen  was  Antigonus,  whom  Herod  now  besieged 
in  Jerusalem.  After  a  siege  of  six  months  Jerusalem  fell, 
and  a  fearful  scene  of  carnage  ensued.  At  length  Herod, 
by  rich  presents,  induced  the  Romans  to  leave  the  Holy 
City,  carrying  Antigonus  with  them  (June,  B.C.  37). t  Herod, 
the  Idumaean,  now  ascended  the  throne  of  Judaea  and  inau- 
gurated his  long  reign  of  37  years. 

*  JosEPHUs,  Antiquities  of  the  Jews,  book  XIV.,  chaps,  viii.-xiii,,  %  a. 
tCf.  JosBPHOS,  ibid.,  book  XIV.,  chaps,  xiv.-xvi. 


"  IN   THE   DAYS  OP   KING    HEROD."  23 

3.  Consolidation  of  His  Power.  The  first  part  of 
Herod's  reign  (b.c.  37-25)  was  spent  in  bloody  endeavors 
to  consolidate  his  power.  Antigonus  was  executed,  together 
with  forty-five  of  his  more  prominent  partisans.  The  aged 
Hyrcanus  II.,  who  had  taken  refuge  among  the  Parthians, 
was  induced  by  the  most  solemn  promises  of  protection  to 
return  to  Jerusalem,  and  was  then  assassinated  (b.c.  30). 
Aristobulus  III.,  the  grandson  and  successor  of  Hyrcanus  in 
the  priesthood,  was  drowned  at  Jericho  by  the  orders  of  the 
king,  and  even  Mariamne — the  only  wife  for  whom  Herod 
ever  bore  a  real  affection — fell  a  victim  to  her  husband's 
blind  jealousy.  The  next  victim  whom  the  tyrant  suspected 
of  plotting  against  his  throne  was  Alexandra,  his  mother-in- 
law.  And  when,  at  length,  he  discovered,  concealed  with 
his  brother-in-law,  the  sons  of  Babas,  distant  relatives  of 
the  Machabean  family,  whom  he  had  long  sought  for  in 
vain,  he  had  them  put  to  death  together  with  their  protec- 
tor. Only  then  did  he  feel  sure  that  no  Asmonean  would 
endanger  his  possession  of  the  Jewish  throne. 

Meanwhile,  and  also  with  a  view  to  consolidate  his  power, 
Herod  neglected  nothing  to  keep  up  friendly  relations  with 
Rome.  To  please  his  then  all-powerful  patron,  Antony,  he 
gave  up  to  Cleopatra — who  exercised  a  controlling  influence 
over  Antony— a  valuable  part  of  his  dominions,  the  fertile 
district  of  Jericho.  Upon  the  fall  of  Antony  at  Actium 
(b.c.  31)  he  succeeded  in  making  a  friend  of  Octavius  on 
the  island  of  Rhodes.  Not  only  did  this  new  patron  con- 
firm him  in  his  kingdom,  but  he  greatly  enlarged  it.  When 
Herod  sent  his  two  sons  by  Mariamne,  Alexander  and  Aris- 
tobulus, to  Rome  for  their  education,  he  received  from 
Octavius  a  new  increase  of  territory,  and  afterwards  was 
appointed  procurator  of  the  province  of  Syria,  and  with 
such  authority  that  his  colleagues  in  command  could  take 
no  step  without  his  concurrence. 


24  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

§  2.  Public  Works. 

I.  In  Jerusalem.  To  establish  himself  still  more  in  the 
favor  of  Augustus,  Herod  imitated  him  in  great  works  of 
peace.  He  erected  a  theatre  within  the  Holy  City,  and 
without  the  walls  an  amphitheatre  in  which  he  held  games 
in  honor  of  the  emperor  with  horse  and  chariot  races  and 
the  bloody  fights  of  gladiators  and  wild  beasts.  He  not 
only  embellished  the  old  residence  of  the  Asmoneans  which 
stood  at  the  end  of  the  bridge  between  the  southern  part  of 
the  Temple  and  the  upper  city,  but  built  for  himself  in  the 
upper  city  a  royal  palace  with  wide  porticoes,  rows  of  pillars 
and  baths,  and  for  the  adornment  of  which  he  spared  neither 
marble  nor  gold.  Contiguous  to  that  new  palace  arose 
three  towers  of  great  size  and  magnificence  to  which  he 
gave  the  names  of  Hippicus,  after  one  of  his  friends,  Pha- 
saelus,  after  his  brother,  and  Mariamne,  after  his  beloved 
wife.  He  restored  and  enlarged  the  citadel,  which  he  named 
Antonia,  after  his  former  patron.  Finally,  the  most  mag- 
nificent of  all  his  buildings  in  Jerusalem  was  the  Temple, 
which  in  its  former  condition  was  out  of  keeping  with  the 
beautiful  recent  structures  in  the  Holy  City,  and  which 
after  its  rebuilding  by  Herod  became  justly  the  greatest 
national  glory  of  the  Jews. 

2.  In  Palestine  and  Foreign  Countries.  Herod's 
love  of  building  naturally  extended  to  other  places  within 
his  dominions.  Samaria,  already  raised  from  its  ruins  by 
Gabinius,  was  now  reconstructed  in  a  magnificent  style, 
fortified,  and  adorned  with  a  temple  in  honor  of  Augustus  ; 
hence  its  new  name  of  SebasU  (Augusta).  Jericho  received 
among  other  embellishments  a  theatre,  amphitheatre,  and 
hippodrome.  In  place  of  the  ancient  Capharsaba,  Herod 
founded  the  city  of  Antipatris,  thus  named  from  his  father; 
the  new  city  of  Phasaelis  arose  north  of  Jericho  ;  to  one  of 
the  many  strongholds  which  he  built  in  various  directions 


25 

he  gave  the  name  of  Herodium,  and  he  took  care  that  it 
should  be  supplied  with  rooms  splendidly  fitted  up  for  his 
own  use  ;  other  fortresses,  like  that  of  Machoerus,  were  re- 
stored and  adorned  with  royal  palaces.  No  less  than  twelve 
years  of  work  were  spent  in  raising  a  maritime  city  on  the 
site  of  Straton's  tower,  and  which  received  the  name  of 
Caesarea  in  honor  of  the  emperor.  Its  exposed  anchorage 
was  slowly  transformed  into  a  safe  harbor  by  a  strong  break- 
water, which  was  carried  far  out  into  the  Mediterranean, 
and  from  the  quays  which  lined  its  harbor  the  stately  city 
arose  in  the  form  of  an  amphitheatre.  In  its  centre  was  a 
hill,  on  which  Herod  built  a  temple  dedicated  to  Augustus, 
with  two  colossal  statues,  one  of  Rome,  and  the  other  of 
the  emperor. 

This  munificence  of  the  Jewish  monarch  was  not,  how- 
ever, limited  to  his  own  dominions.  "  For  the  Rhodians  he 
built  at  his  own  cost  the  Pythian  temple.  He  aided  in  the 
construction  of  most  of  the  public  buildings  of  the  city  of 
Nicopolis,  which  Augustus  had  founded  near  Actium.  In 
Antioch  he  caused  colonnades  to  be  erected  along  both 
sides  of  the  principal  street.  .  .  .  Tyre  and  Sidon,  Byblus 
and  Berytus,  Tripolis,  Ptolemais  and  Damascus  were  also 
graced  with  memorials  to  the  glory  of  Herod's  name.  And 
even  as  far  as  Athens  and  Sparta  proofs  of  his  liberality 
were  to  be  found."  * 


§  3.   Social  Life  in  Jerusalem. 

I.  The  Court  and  the  Upper  Classes.  In  his  great 
desire  to  please  Augustus  and  appear  a  liberal  and  cultured 
prince,  Herod  held  a  court  whose  splendor  and  general  tone 
resembled  in  many  ways  that  of  the  emperor.  Like  the 
Roman  ruler,  the  king  of  Judaea  surrounded  himself  with 

•  ScHDRBR,  The  Jewish  People  in  the  Time  of  Jesus  Christ,  division  I,,  vol.  i.,  p.  437, 
Eng.  Transl. 


26  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY, 

men  accomplished  in  Greek  literature  and  art,  and  many 
among  them  were  placed  in  offices  of  trust  or  honor.  Promi- 
nent among  them  was  the  historian,  Nicholas  of  Damascus, 
on  whom  Herod  relied  implicitly,  and  to  whom  he  intrusted 
all  important  and  difficult  diplomatic  missions.  Another 
Greek,  a  certain  Ptolemy,  was  at  the  head  of  the  royal  fi- 
nances, while  other  Greeks  or  half-Greeks  acted  as  tutors 
or  travelling  companions  to  his  sons.  Foreign  mercenaries 
surrounded  his  person,  and  in  so  far  contributed  to  give  to 
his  court  a  non-Jewish  aspect.  Again,  the  personal  example 
of  the  king,  who  had  himself  submitted  to  receive  lessons 
from  Nicholas  of  Damascus  in  philosophy,  rhetoric,  and 
history,  contributed  powerfully  to  make  his  various  officers 
reach  a  wider  and  higher  culture  than  that  which  had  ever 
been  witnessed  at  the  court  of  the  Asmoneans.  Unfortu- 
nately the  Jewish  monarch  ever  remained  a  barbarian 
at  heart,  and  his  practice  of  polygamy,  together  with 
his  suspicious  temperament,  greatly  interfered  with  the 
peace  and  happiness  of  those  immediately  connected  with 
him. 

Under  Herod  the  upper  classes  lost  much  of  their  heredi- 
tary power,  and  endeavored  to  make  up  for  it  by  a  life  of 
luxury  and  enjoyment ;  yet  the  high  priests  continued  to 
form  an  influential  aristocracy. 

2.  The  People  and  their  Hatred  of  Herod.  Amid 
all  his  power  and  glory,  Herod  himself  realized  how  far  he 
was  from  enjoying  the  good-will  of  his  subjects  at  large. 
He  knew  that  they  murmured  at  his  introduction  of  foreign 
and  heathen  practices,  his  arbitrary  setting  up  and  deposi- 
tion of  the  high  priests,  his  prodigal  expenditure,  and  his 
terrible  severity  against  his  opponents.  Hence  he  several 
times  attempted  to  pacify  the  people  by  truly  generous 
and  liberal  deeds ;  but  their  gratitude  did  not  last 
long,  and  time  and  again  serious  conspiracies  endangered 
his  life. 


**  IN    THE    DAYS   OF    KING    HEROD."  2J 

§  4.  Religious  Condition  of  the  Jews. 

1.  Jerusalem  the  Religious  Centre  of  the  Jew- 
ish World.  In  consequence  of  such  popular  opposition 
to  his  rule,  as  to  that  of  a  hated  Idumaean  and  of  a  direct 
representative  of  the  foreign  and  pagan  authority  of  Rome, 
Herod  carefully  refrained  from  interfering  with  all  that  the 
worship  of  Jehovah  in  His  own  sanctuary  required  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Jews  of  Palestine  and  of  the  Dispersion.  Under 
him,  therefore,  as  under  his  predecessors,  Jerusalem  re- 
mained the  great  metropolis  of  Judaism.  It  was  at  the 
Holy  City  that  the  dispersed  Jews  regularly  congregated  in 
hundreds  of  thousands,  bearing  their  yearly  tribute  and 
anxious  to  worship  the  God  of  their  ancestors  within  the 
sacred  precincts  of  His  Temple.  It  was  in  the  Holy  City 
that  each  important  section  of  the  Hellenistic  Jews  had  con- 
tributed to  erect  a  beautiful  synagogue,  where  those  of  the 
same  tongue  and  country  and  interests  could  hold  meetings 
of  their  own,  and  welcome  their  fellow-countrymen  at  the 
time  of  the  annual  festivals.  It  was  in  Jerusalem  that  the 
great  masters  of  Israel,  looked  up  to  by  the  whole  Jew 
ish  world,  expounded  the  Law  and  the  traditions  of  the 
elders,  and  from  the  Holy  City  that  all  the  parts  of  the 
Eastern  and  Western  Dispersion  *  received  the  teachings 
of  their  fathers,  the  regulations  for  the  feast-days,  etc.  All 
this  had  besides  the  advantage  to  secure  for  the  capital  of 
Judaea  a  commerce,  an  influence,  a  prestige  which  it  would 
never  have  possessed  otherwise,  and,  as  long  as  he  was  able 
to  control  it  by  the  free  appointment  or  removal  of  the  head 
of  the  Jewish  hierarchy,  Herod  had  no  direct  interest  to 
interfere  with  it. 

2.  Heathenism  Widespread  in  Palestine.     That 
this  conduct  of  the  Jewish  king  was  simply  the  result  of 

*  For  details  concerning  the  Jews  of  the  Dispersion,  see  Outlines  of  Jewish  History 
chap.  XXX. 


28  OUTLINES   OF    NEW   TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

expediency  is  made  plain  by  his  manner  of  action  wherever 
he  felt  himself  free  to  encourage  heathenism.  Not  only  far 
away,  in  Phenicia,  Syria,  Asia  Minor,  and  Greece,  he  made 
himself  the  ostentatious  patron  of  everything  pagan,  rear- 
ing temples,  theatres,  porticoes,  gymnasia,  etc.,  but  also 
around  the  central  district  of  Palestine,  and  even  to  some 
extent  within  its  limits,  he  started  or  encouraged  idolatry. 
Gaza,  Ascalon,  Dor,  Caesarea,  Joppe,  Samaria,  Panias  were 
desecrated  by  heathen  temples,  altars,  idols,  and  priests. 
Even  "  in  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem  the  Grecian  style  of 
architecture  was  freely  adopted.  It  is  true  that  in  the  Tem- 
ple proper  Herod  could  not  venture  to  forsake  the  tra- 
ditional forms  ;  but  in  the  building  of  the  inner  fore-courts 
we  see  the  influence  of  Greek  models."  *  Indeed  the  king 
went  so  far  as  to  place  within  its  sacred  precincts  a  number 
of  trophies,  and  to  display  over  its  main  entrance  a  golden 
eagle,  the  symbol  of  pagan  Rome. 

3.  The  Messianic  Expectation.  It  is  easy  to 
understand  how  such  unholy  changes,  forced  upon  the 
Jewish  patriots  and  believers  by  the  iron  hand  of  the  royal 
Idumaean,  made  them  long  ardently  for  the  reign  of  the 
Messias,  which  their  sacred  books  represented  as  a  future 
kingdom  of  righteousness,  and  which  their  apocryphal 
literature — such  writings,  for  instance,  as  the  Sibylline 
Books,  the  Book  of  Enoch,  and  the  Psalter  of 
Solomon — described  chiefly  under  the  attractive  images 
of  material  prosperity.  False  Messiahs  made  their  appear- 
ance at  the  very  moment  of  Our  Lord's  stay  in  Egypt,  and 
the  message  of  John  the  Baptist,  a  little  later,  gave  a  new 
impulse  to  the  general  belief  that  the  Messias  was  at  hand. 
Not  only  the  New  Testament  is  full  of  references  to  such 
an  expectation,!  but  even  pagan  writers  bear  witness  to  it.| 

*  ScHURER,  division  II.,  vol.  i.,  p.  35. 
t  Matt  xi.  3  ;  Luke  i.  39 ;  ii.  25  ;  John  vii.  26,  59,  etc. 

t  Tacitus,  Hist.  v.  13;  Suetonius,  Vespas,  4;  cf.  also  Josephus,  Wars  of  the 
Jews,  book  VI.,  chap,  v.,  §  4. 


"in    the   days   of   king  HEROD."  29 

The  full  frame  of  mind  of  Our  Lord's  contemporaries 
regarding  the  person  and  work  of  the  Messias  will  be  grad- 
ually unfolded  in  the  course  of  the  present  work  ;  yet,  even 
from  now,  it  may  be  useful  to  set  forth  the  general  belief 
of  the  time.  According  to  the  popular  ideal,  the  Messias 
was  to  be  primarily  a  political  leader,  a  mighty  deliverer  of 
His  people  from  the  tyranny  of  its  pagan  oppressors,  and 
also  a  restorer  of  the  Jewish  institutions  in  their  primitive 
purity.  Issued  from  David's  race  and  born  in  Judaea,  He 
was  expected  to  start  a  world-wide  empire,  of  which 
Jerusalem  would  be  the  capital,  and  in  which  the  sons  of 
Abraham  would  be  superior  in  things  temporal  as  well  as 
spiritual  to  the  rest  of  the  world.  To  be  admitted  into 
this  Messianic  kingdom  it  would  be  sufficient  to  observe 
the  enactments  of  the  Mosaic  law,  to  which  the  Messias 
would  Himself  be  subjected.  Finally,  a  large  number  of 
Jews  believed  that  if  the  nation  was  once  engaged  in  such 
an  extreme  conflict  with  the  Romans  as  to  threaten  Jeru- 
salem and  its  Temple  with  destruction,  the  Messias  must 
needs  appear. 

We  shall  see  later  on  how  Our  Lord  gradually  modified 
these  expectations. 

§  5.  Last  Period  of  Herod's  Reign, 

I.  Domestic  Affairs  of  Herod.  The  last  period  of 
Herod's  rule  (b.c.  15-4)  was  disgraced  by  scenes  of  blood- 
shed still  more  awful  than  those  which  darkened  its  first 
years,  and  the  history  of  his  domestic  affairs  is  that  of  a 
long  succession  of  intrigues  and  murders.  Antipater,  his 
eldest  son  by  his  former  wife  Doris,  accused  his  step- 
brothers Alexander  and  Aristobulus  of  wishing  to  avenge 
upon  Herod  the  death  of  Mariamne,  their  mother.  An- 
tipater was  believed,  as  well  as  the  court  people  whom  the 
accuser  had  won  over,  and  who  were  constantly  inventing 


3©  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

new  reports.  Accusations  and  reconciliations  now  alter- 
nated with  each  other  ;  but  the  calumnies  did  not  cease  in 
the  king's  palace  till  Alexander  and  Aristobulus  were 
strangled  by  his  order  at  Sebaste  (b.c.  7).  A  multitude  of 
Pharisees,  with  some  of  the  courtiers  who  had  conspired 
against  Herod  in  favor  of  Pheroras,  his  brother,  were  put 
to  death.  Upon  further  inquiry,  the  death  of  Pheroras 
brought  to  light  the  whole  secret  history  of  years.  He 
had  died  by  taking  poison  sent  by  Antipater  to  dispatch 
Herod.  Even  the  second  Mariamne — the  daughter  of 
Simon  the  high  priest — was  proved  to  have  been  privy  to 
the  plot,  and  her  son  Philip  was,  on  this  account,  blotted 
out  of  his  father's  will  (b.c.  5).  Antipater,  now  unmasked, 
was  handed  over  for  trial  to  the  Syrian  propraetor.  Easily 
convicted,  he  was  led  away  in  chains.  At  last  the  strong 
nature  of  Herod  gave  way  under  such  revelations,  a  deadly 
illness  seized  him,  and  soon  word  ran  through  Jerusalem 
that  he  was  no  more.  At  once  riots  took  place  ;  but  the 
troops  were  turned  out  and  the  unarmed  rioters  scattered  ; 
many  who  had  been  seized  were  put  to  death. 

Antipater  was  executed  only  five  days  before  his  father's 
demise.  Herod  died  in  the  seventieth  year  of  his  age 
(750  u.c). 

2.  Condition  of  Palestine  at  Herod's  Death.  At 
the  news  of  the  tyrant's  death  frightful  anarchy  prevailed 
in  Palestine.  The  popular  voice,  backed  up  by  tumult  and 
riot,  clamored  for  the  redress  of  grievances,  such  as  the 
diminution  of  public  burdens,  the  release  of  the  prisoners 
with  whom  Herod  had  crowded  the  dungeons,  the  abandon- 
ment of  onerous  taxes,  etc.  Very  soon,  in  fact,  Archelaus, 
to  whom  Herod  had  left  by  his  last  will  the  government  of 
Judaea,  Idumaea,  and  Samaria,  saw  himself  compelled  to 
send  a  large  body  of  troops  against  the  rioters,  3000  of 
whom  were  slain. 

A  little  later  the  Roman  officials  seized  upon  the  treas- 


**IN    THE    DAYS    OF    KING    HEROD.'*  3I 

ures  of  the  late  king,  and  insurrection  upon  insurrection 
broke  out  against  them.  Even  the  troops  of  Herod  wan- 
dered about  in  bands,  plundering  as  they  pleased,  and  false 
Messiahs  appeared  who  assumed  the  diadem  and  gathered 
troops  of  bandits.  Finally,  a  large  number  of  the  Jews 
had  been  so  disgusted  with  the  Herodian  rule  that  they 
sent  500  of  their  number  to  Augustus  to  ask  him  not  to 
ratify  the  will  of  the  deceased  monarch,  and  to  suppress 
the  royal  authority  in  Judaea. 


SYNOPSIS  OF  CHAPTER  III. 


The  Incarnation  and  Nativity. 


I. 

The 

Incarnation. 


I.  The    Annun- 
ciation 


to  Zachary:  Conception  and 
circumcision  of  the  precur- 
sor. 

to  Mary:  Place;  Gabriel's 
message;  "  the  Word  made 
Flesh." 


«    Tu^\ri^itr.     f  Departure  of  Mary. 

2.  The  Visita-lg^^^^^    ^^   arrival  (the   Mag. 

^^°"-  1     nificat). 

Marriage  Ceremonies  in  the 
East. 

St.  Joseph's  anxious  misgiv- 
ings removed. 

The  marriage  itself. 


3.  The  Marriage 
of  Our 
Blessed 
Lady. 


II. 

The 

Nativity. 


I.  Not  in  Naza- 
reth. 


The  enrolment 


'Nature  and 
extent. 

Connection 
with  Cy- 
rinus. 


2.  But  in  Beth- 
lehem. 


The  two  genealogies  (gen- 
eral features — theories). 

Date  of  birth  (approxima- 
tive). 

The  town:  situation  and  de- 
scription. 

The  inn:  An  Eastern  khan 
described. 

The  manger  (cave,  ox,  and 
ass,  etc.). 


3.  The  Adoration  of    the  Shepherds  (Luke  ii. 
8-20). 

32 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   INCARNATION   AND   NATIVITY. 

§  I.    The  Incarnation, 

I.  The  Annunciation.  Herod  was  still  living*  when 
the  birth  of  the  precursor  of  Christ  was  foretold  (October, 
6  B.C.;  748  u.c.).t  Elizabeth,  his  mother,  and  Zachary, 
his  father,  both  of  priestly  race,  after  having  long  prayed 
for  a  son,  had  now  lost  all  hope  to  see  this,  their  most 
ardent  desire,  fulfilled;  but  their  request,  we  are  told  by 
the  sacred  narrative,  was  finally  granted. 

When  the  days  of  the  ministration  of  the  priestly  course 
of  Abia,  to  which  Zachary  belonged,  had  come,  he  repaired 
to  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem  to  carry  out  whatever  duties 
might  be  assigned  to  him  by  lot.  To  burn  incense  on  the 
golden  altar  in  the  Holy  Place  was  the  most  honorable  of 
the  functions  of  the  simple  priests,  and  this  office  now  fell  to 
Zachary.  During  this  ceremony  the  people  waited  in  the 
Court  of  Israel,  praying  in  silence  till  the  priest  should  reap- 
pear; and,  as  a  rule,  he  never  tarried  in  the  Holy  Place  longer 
than  was  absolutely  necessary.  On  that  day  the  people 
waited  long  for  Zachary,  and  when  he  came  out  he  was 
speechless  ;  hence,  all  understood  that  something  extraor- 
dinary had  happened.  He  had  had  a  vision,  which  is  re- 
corded in  St.  Luke  (i.  11-20),  and  during  which  he  was  told 

*  Luke  i.  5. 

t  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  dates  throughout  the  present  work  are  based  on  the 
now  commonly  admitted  fact  that  the  birth  of  Christ  took  place  some  years  before  what 
is  called  the  Christian  era. 

33 


34  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

by  the  angel  Gabriel  that  Elizabeth  should  bear  him  a  son 
whom  he  should  call  John,  and  who  would  be  the  holy  pre* 
cursor  of  the  Messjas. 

The  unbelief  of  Zachary  at  the  voice  of  the  angel  had 
been  punished  by  a  temporary  dumbness;  and  at  the  end 
of  his  week's  service  he  departed  to  his  own  house.* 

In  due  time  a  child  was  born  to  Elizabeth,  and  on  the 
eighth  day  after  his  birth  he  underwent  the  rite  of  the  cir^ 
cumcision,  in  which  he  received  the  name  of  John,  as  fore- 
told by  the  angel,  f  It  was  on  the  day  of  the  circumcision 
of  his  son  that  Zachary  recovered  his  power  of  speech,  and 
uttered  a  beautiful  canticle  known  as  the  "  Benedictus," 
from  its  first  word  in  the  Latin  Vulgate.  It  is  essentially  a 
Messianic  hymn,  Hebraic  in  its  language  and  conceptions. 
In  the  first  part  I  Zachary,  speaking  as  a  priest^  praises  God 
for  the  realization  of  all  the  Messianic  hopes  created  by 
the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament;  in  the  second  part,§ 
speaking  as  a  father^  he  addresses  his  son  as  destined  to 
exercise  a  preparatory  ministry  to  the  Lord. 

Six  months  after  his  appearance  to  Zachary,  the  angel 
Gabriel  was  sent  from  God  to  Nazareth,  a  humble  village 
unknown  and  unnamed  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  hidden 
away  among  the  hills  of  Galilee.  It  is  there  that,  far  from 
their  ancestral  seat,  Joseph  and  Mary  lived,  who  were  both  of 
the  tribe  of  Juda  and  the  house  of  David;  and  it  is  to  Mary^ 
"  a  virgin  espoused  to  Joseph,"  that  the  angel  was  directed. 
The  precise  place  where  he  visited  her  is  not  indicated  in 
the  Gospel;  but  the  Latin  tradition,  which  affirms  that  he 
found  Mary  ip  a  grotto  over  which  stood  the  house  which 
was  ultimately  carried  by  angels  into  Italy,  agrees  with  the 
expression  used  in  the  inspired  record:  "And  the  angel  be- 
ing come  iny\ 

*  LuKB  i.  21-23.  +  Luke  i.  24-26,  39-45>  57-^3-  X  Lukb  x.  68-75. 

§  Lukb  i.  76-79.  ||  Luke  i.  26-28  a. 

See  also  Vigouroux,  Dictionnaire  de  la  Bible,  art.  AnnoDcUtion  ;  Anokxws,  Life  9I 
Pur  Lord  upon  the  Ea^rth,  pp.  67,  63. 


THE    INCARNATION    AND    NATIVITY.  35 

What  follows  in  the  sacred  narrative  *  is  as  simple  and  un- 
pretentious as  a  legend  of  Oriental  imagination  would  have 
been  gorgeous  and  hyperbolical.  The  angel  appeared  prob- 
ably under  the  form  of  a  man,  f  and  saluted  Mary  with 
these  remarkable  words:  "  Hail,  full  of  grace," — a  transla- 
tion objected  to  by  Protestant  writers,  chiefly  because  of  erro- 
neous dogmatic  views, — "  the  Lord  is  with  thee,  blessed  art 
thou  among  women."  At  these  words  Mary  was  troubled; 
but  after  bidding  her  not  to  fear,  Gabriel  delivered  his 
wonderful  message,  which  summarized  the  principal  Messi- 
anic predictions  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  by  means  of 
which  Mary  easily  understood  she  was  to  be  the  mother  of 
the  Messias.  Whereupon  she  humbly  inquired,  "  How 
shall  this  be  done,  because  I  know  not  man  ? "  J  The 
angel  told  her  that  by  His  omnipotence,  the  Lord  would 
make  of  her  the  virgin-mother  of  the  Son  of  God.  To  this 
he  added  a  suitable  sign:  the  pregnancy  of  her  cousin 
Elizabeth.  Mary  then  believed  in  the  infinite  power  of 
God,  and  submitted  humbly  to  His  eternal  designs  in  these 
simple  words:  "Behold  the  handmaid  of  the  Lord;  be  it 
done  to  me  according  to  Thy  word."  Then  was  it  also  that 
"  the  Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us  "  and  be- 
came for  us  all  a  permanent  source  of  grace  and  the  Medi- 
ator of  the  new  and  eternal  Covenant.§ 

2.  The  Visitation  (March-April,  749,  5  b.c).  From 
St.  Luke's  statement  (i.  39)  that  "  Mary  went  into  the 
hill  country  with  haste,''  it  may  be  inferred  that  she  at 
once  began  her  journey,  even  before  she  informed  St. 
Joseph  of  the  incomparable  honor  bestowed  upon  her. 
She  wished  to  congratulate  Elizabeth  on  her  pregnancy 

*  Luke  i.  28-38.  t  Cfr.  Daniel  ix.  21. 

X  These  words  suggest  a  difl5c\ilty  in  the  mind  of   Mary,  which  Christian  writers, 

after  St.  Augvistine,  have  commonly  taken  as  implying  a  pledge  of  virginity. — Dr. 

Swete  (The  Apostles'  Creed)  has  clearly  shown  that  the  doctrine  of  the  miraculous 
conception  of  Jesos  was,  from  the  earliest  times,  part  of  the  Creed. 

%  John  i.  i-«&. 


$6  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

revealed  by  the  angel,  and  unite  with  her  in  praising  God. 
It  is  beyond  doubt  that  Joseph  did  not  accompany  Mary 
on  her  journey,  but  it  is  not  unlikely  that  she  was  accom- 
panied by  some  of  her  friends,  or  a  body  of  neighbors  going 
up  to  the  Pasch,  now  near  at  hand. 

She  went  to  the  "  Aouse  of  Zachary"  *  in  the  hill  country 
of  Juda.  As  the  name  of  the  town  where  Zachary  resided 
is  not  indicated  in  the  sacred  text,  several  places  are  men- 
tioned as  having  possibly  given  birth  to  the  holy  precursor: 
(i)  Hebron,  a  very  ancient  city  situated  in  the  hill  country, 
and  pointed  out  by  a  Jewish  tradition  as  St.  John's  birth- 
place; (2)  Yuttah,  a  town  about  4  or  5  miles  south  of 
Hebron,  a  priestly  town  also,  but  without  tradition  con- 
necting it  with  the  birth  of  St.  John;  (3)  Ain  Karin,  4 
miles  west  of  Jerusalem,  which  Greek  and  Latin  traditions 
concur  in  marking  as  the  home  of  Zachary.f 

As  the  distance  from  Nazareth  to  Jerusalem  is  about  80 
miles,  if  Zachary  lived  at  Hebron,  about  20  miles  farther 
south,  the  whole  journey  would  take  up  four  or  five  days. 

The  scene  on  Mary's  arrival  is  very  beautiful.  It  bears 
the  impress  of  the  holiest  joy  :  Mary  salutes  first  her  cousin 
Elizabeth,  and  at  once  the  yet  unborn  John  leaps  for  joy 
and  is  sanctified  in  the  womb  of  his  mother  ;  while  Eliza- 
beth herself,  filled  with  enthusiasm,  proclaims  blessed  the 
mother  of  her  Lord.t      All  this  is  manifestly  the  result  of 

*LUKE  i.  40. 

t  See  Andrews,  Life  of  Our  Lord,  p.  54  sq.;  Fouard,  Life  of  Jesus,  p.  18  and  foot- 
note. 

X  The  words  of  Elizabeth  exhibit  the  characteristics  of  Hebrew  poetry  in  a  marked 
degree,  and  may  be  divided  into  two  stanzas  of  four  lines  each,  as  follows : 
Blessed  art  thou  among  women, 

And  blessed  is  the  fruit  of  thy  womb. 
And  whence  is  this  to  me 
That  the  mother  of  my  Lord  should  come  to  me  ? 
For  behold  as  soon  as  the  voice  of  thy  salutation  sounded  in  my  ears, 

The  infant  in  my  womb  leaped  for  joy. 
And  blessed  art  thou  that  hast  believed,  because  those  things  shall  be  accomplished 
That  were  spoken  to  thee  by  the  Lord. 
(See  St.  LuKB,  in  International  Critical  Commentary,  p.  aj.) 


THE    INCARNATION    AND    NATIVITY.  37 

the  presence  of  Our  Lord,  unseen,  but  inspiring  all.  Again, 
there  is  a  great  contrast  between  the  excited  enthusiasm  of 
Elizabeth,  who  ''  cried  out  with  a  loud  voice^'  and  Mary's 
canticle,  which  breathes  a  sentiment  of  deep  and  inward 
repose,  in  harmony  with  her  more  complete  and  more  con- 
stant dependence  on  the  Holy  Spirit.* 

The  Magnificat  is  made  up  of  three  stanzas,  in  the 
first  of  which  Mary  praises  God  for  His  benefits  to  her;t 
in  the  second  she  praises  Him  for  His  judgments  over  the 
world  ;  %  in  the  third  she  praises  Him  for  His  mercy  towards 
Israel.§  Commentators  justly  observe  that  the  expressions 
of  the  Magnificat  being  almost  entirely  borrowed  from 
the  Old  Testament  poetry,  Mary  could  easily  give  vent  to 
her  feelings  of  gratitude  in  the  poetical  form  under  which 
they  have  come  down  to  us. 

3.  The  Marriage  of  Our  Blessed  Lady.  ||  The 
marriage  customs  of  the  East  have  ever  differed  considerably 
from  those  in  vogue  among  the  Western  nations. 

After  the  selection  of  the  bride,  the  espousals  or  betrothal 
took  place,  and  were  formal  proceedings  undertaken  by  a 
friend  or  legal  representative  on  the  part  of  the  bridegroom, 
and  by  the  parents  on  the  part  of  the  bride.  The  wedding 
itself  was  simply  the  removal  of  the  bride  from  her  father's 
house  to  that  of  the  bridegroom.  But  between  the  betrothal 
and  the  wedding  an  interval  might  elapse  varying  from  a 
few  days  to  a  full  year  for  virgins.  During  this  period  the 
communications  between  the  bride  and  bridegroom  were 
conveyed  by  "  the  friend  of  the  bridegroom,"  and  the  bride 
was  considered  as  a  wife,  so  that  any  unfaithfulness  on  her 
part  was  punishable  with  death,  the  husband  having,  how- 
ever, the  option  of  putting  her  away. 

It  is  in  the  light  of  these  Eastern  customs  that  we  should 
understand  the  marriage  of  our  blessed  Lady,  as  recorded 
by  St.  Matthew. 

*  LuKB  i.  40-46  a.    t  LuKH  i.  46-49.    t  LuKB  i.  S&-53.    §  LuKX  L  54,  S5» 

0  LuKHi.  56  ;  Matt.  i.  18-25. 


38  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

After  an  abode  of  about  three  months  Mary  left  the 
house  of  Zachary*  to  "return  to  her  own  house."! 
This  last  expression  seems  to  indicate  that  Mary, 
"betrothed"  to  St.  Joseph, |  had  not  yet  been  taken  to 
him,  as  we  learn  in  a  more  explicit  manner  from  the  follow- 
ing words  of  the  first  gospel :  "  When  His  mother  Mary 
was  espoused  to  Joseph,  before  they  came  together, 
she  was  found  with  child."  § 

After  Mary's  return  to  her  own  house  her  pregnancy  was 
now  so  advanced  that  it  was  very  soon  noticed  either  by 
her  parents  or  by  the  friend  of  the  bridegroom  :  "  She 
was  found  with  child,''  i.  e.,  she  was  recognized  as  such, 
and  the  fact,  being  ascertained,  was  made  known  to 
Joseph. 

Great  was  the  anxiety  of  Joseph,  her  husband,  at  this 
news,  for  he  was  considered  as  such  after  the  betrothal, 
and  as  a  "just  man,"  i.  <r.,  a  faithful  observer  of  the  Law, 
he  felt  bound  to  repudiate  Mary.  This  he  might  do  in 
two  ways.  He  could  either  summon  her  before  the  law- 
courts  to  be  judicially  condemned  and  punished, — this 
course  would  have  "  publicly  exposed  her," — or  he  could 
choose  a  milder  course  :  he  could  put  her  away  by  a  bill  of 
divorce  written  before  witnesses,  but  without  assigning  the 
cause  of  the  divorce  ;  and  to  this  latter  course  he  inclined  : 
"  being  not  willing  publicly  to  expose  her,,  ivas  minded  to  put 
her  away  private ly.''  ||  While  thinking  on  those  things, 
viz.,  how  to  put  her  away,  the  angel  of  the  Lord  appeared 
to  him  and,  manifesting  the  innocence  of  Mary,  directed 
him  to  take  her  unto  himself,  /.  <?.,  to  bring  her  into  his 
house.l" 

Joseph,  obedient  to  the  divine  command,  took  Mary,  his 

*  LuKH  i.  40.  t  Luke  i.  56.  %  Luke  i.  27  ;  Matt.  i.  18. 

§  Matt.  i.  18;  cfr.  also  Deuter.  xx.  7.  ||  Matt.  i.  19. 

IT  Matt.  i.  20,  21.  All  these  details  could  be  fully  realized  by  the  Jewish  converts  for 
whom  the  first  gospel  was  written,  and  to  whom  they  must  have  appeared  a  striking 
fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  of  Isaias  (vii.  14)  quoted  by  St.  Matthew  fi.  22,  23) . 


THE   INCARNATION    AND    NATIVITY.  39 

wife,  unto  himself,  "  and  he  knew  her  not  till  she  brought 
forth  her  first-born  Son."* 

§  2.  The  Nativity. 

I.  Christ  Not  Born  in  Nazareth.  It  might  natu- 
rally have  been  expected  that  Mary's  child  would  have 
been  born  in  Nazareth,  but  an  enrolment  prescribed  by 
Augustus  made  a  distant  village  the  birthplace  of  Jesus.f 
This  enrolment  was  most  likely  a  registration  of  persons 
and  property,  a  census  which  would  serve  as  basis  for 
future  taxation  ;  and,  as  St.  Luke  tells  us,  it  extended 
throughout  the  whole  Roman  empire. 

Strong  objection  has  been  taken  to  the  statement  of  the 
Evangelist  that  a  universal  census  was  carried  into  effect 
in  Judaea  before  the  death  of  Herod.  In  point  of  fact  no 
explicit  statement  can  be  found  in  any  contemporary  writer 
concerning  the  taking  of  a  universal  census  at  this  time. 
But  many  things  make  it  probable  that  it  was  actually 
taken :  (i)  from  his  accession  to  the  empire  Augustus 
was  anxious  to  have  a  uniform  system  of  taxation  applied 
to  the  provinces  ;  (2)  under  him  a  census  was  certainly 
effected  in  provinces  such  as  Gaul  and  Spain  ;  (3)  it  is 
well  established  that  he  commenced,  if  he  did  not  carry 
out,  a  complete  geometrical  survey  of  the  empire  ;  (4)  sev- 
eral Latin  writers  X  refer  to  Augustus's  Breviarium  Imperii, 
i.  e.y  to  a  little  book  written  out  in  the  hand  of  the  emperor 
himself,  and  treating  of  the  number  of  his  soldiers,  of  the 
taxes,  imposts,  etc.,  of  the  empire.  Under  Herod,  Judaea 
was  not  yet,  it  is  true,  a  Roman  province,  but  its  reduction 
to  that  condition  sooner  or  later  was  already  determined, 
and  it  is  beyond  question  that  if  Augustus  ever  wished  to 
have  a  census   taken  in  Palestine   during  the  lifetime  of 

*  Matt.  i.  24,  25.  t  Luke  ii.  i  sq. 

X  Taqtus,  i.  II ;  Subtonius,  Aug.  chaps,  xxviii.,  cL 


40  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

Herod,  the  obsequious  king  would  not  attempt  to  re- 
sist* 

A  still  greater  difficulty  has  been  found  in  the  statement 
of  St.  Luke  that  this  enrolment  took  place  when  Cyrinus 
was  governor  of  Syria,  because  it  seems  to  conflict  with  the 
following  data  gathered  from  other  sources  :  Cyrinus  filled 
the  governorship  of  that  province  some  ten  years  later  than 
this,  and  then  took  a  census  of  Judaea.  The  actual  gov- 
ernor of  Syria  at  the  time  of  the  death  of  Herod — an  event 
which  is  usually  placed  not  long  after  Our  Lord's  birth — 
was  not  Cyrinus,  but  Quintilius  Varus.f  Nay,  more,  Ter- 
tuUian,  in  his  treatise  against  Marcion,J  affirms  as  a  positive 
fact  "that  the  census  which  could  give  official  information 
regarding  the  family  and  descent  of  Christ  had  been  taken 
in  Judaea  by  Sentius  Saturninus  " — that  is,  by  the  immediate 
predecessor  of  Varus  in  the  governorship  of  Syria. 

It  would  be  a  long  and  tedious  work  even  to  enumerate 
all  the  theories  which  have  been  advanced  to  show  how  St. 
Luke's  statement  harmonizes  with  the  data  which  have 
just  been  mentioned,  and  the  accuracy  of  which  cannot 
well  be  denied.  Suffice  it  to  say  (i)  that  recent  investiga- 
tions have  proved  that  Cyrinus  was  twice  governor  of  Syria, 
and  (2)  that  it  may  be  supposed  that  the  census  was  begun 
by  S.  Saturninus,  so  that  Tertullian  could  speak  of  it  as 
taken  by  this  officer,  and  that  it  was  completed  by  Cyrinus 
during  his  first  governorship  :  in  this  way  St.  Luke  could 
no  less  accurately  ascribe  it  to  the  latter.  § 

In  carrying  out  the  imperial  edict  Herod  was  careful 

*  Cf.  FouARD,  i.,  p.  41  sq.;  Andrews,  pp.  71-82;  Schurer,  division  I.,  vol.  ii.,  pp. 
105-143  ;  Plummer,  St.  Luke  in  Interaat.  Critical  Commentary,  pp.  48,  49. 

t  JosEPHus,  Antiq.  of  the  Jews,  book  XVII.,  chap,  xiii.,  §  5;  book  XVIIL,  chap. 
!.,  §  X. 

t  Book  IV.,  chap,  xix, 

§  For  an  able  discussion  of  this  question,  besides  Fouard,  Andrews,  and  Schurer, 
above  referred  to,  see  Vigouroux,  Nouveau  Testament  et  D^couvertes  Arch^ologiques, 
p.  102  sq.;  Gloag,  Introduction  to  the  Synoptic  Gospels,  p.  269  sq.;  Wibsblbr, 
Sjmopsis  of  the  Four  Gospels,  section  i.,  chap.  ii. 


THE   INCARNATION    AND   NATIVITY,  41 

not  to  override  the  national  customs  of  the  Jews,  according 
to  which  they  should  be  enrolled  at  the  place  with  which 
they  were  connected  by  the  ties  of  tribe  or  family.  This 
brought  Joseph  into  Judaea,  to  the  city  of  David,  for,  as  we 
learn  in  detail  from  the  two  genealogies  of  Our  Lord,* 
Joseph  was  of  the  house  and  family  of  David. f 

Both  genealogies  manifestly  profess  to  give  the  human 
pedigree  of  Our  Lord,  and  yet  they  present  several  impor- 
tant differences.  St.  Matthew,  writing  for  Jewish  Chris- 
tians, begins  with  Abraham  ;  St.  Luke,  writing  for  Gentile 
Christians,  goes  back  to  Adam,  the  father  of  all  men.  In 
St.  Matthew  the  genealogies  are  introduced  by  the  word 
"  begot  "y  in  St.  Luke,  by  the  genitive  with  the  ellipsis  of 
the  word  *^  son,**  St.  Luke  gives  twenty-one  names  between 
David  and  Zorobabel,  whilst  St.  Matthew  gives  only  fifteen, 
and  all  the  names,  except  that  of  Salathiel,  are  different. 
Again,  St.  Luke  gives  seventeen  generations  between  Zo- 
robabel and  Joseph,  whilst  St.  Matthew  gives  only  nine,  and 
all  the  names  are  different.  Finally,  while  St.  Matthew 
calls  Joseph  the  son  of  Jacob,  St.  Luke  calls  him  the  son 
of  Heli. 

Two  principal  theories  deserve  notice  in  connection  with 
Our  Lord's  genealogies.  The  first  maintains  that  St.  Luke 
gives  the  genealogy  of  our  blessed  Lady,  while  St.  Mat- 
thew gives  that  of  St.  Joseph.  This  solution  would  indeed 
do  away  with  all  the  differences  mentioned  above ;  unfor- 
tunately it  finds  no  basis  in  tradition,  and  seems  opposed 
to  the  natural  meaning  of  St.  Luke  (iii.  23).  The  second 
theory  considers  both  genealogies  as  the  genealogies  of  St. 
Joseph  ;  but  while  St.  Matthew  shows  that  Our  Lord  is 
the  son  of  David  by  legal  succession,  St.  Luke  shows  that 
He  is  such  by  natural  succession.  In  this  latter  view  both 
genealogies  should  also  be  considered  as  genealogies  of 
Mary,  inasmuch  as,  Mary  being  either  the  niece  or  the  first 

*  Matt,  i,  1-16 ;  Luke  iii.  23-38.  t  Lukb  ii.  3-5. 


43  OUTLINES  OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

cousin  of  Joseph,  the  ancestors  of  Joseph — both  legal  and 
natural — are  also  her  ancestors. 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  these  opinions  the  Davidic 
descent  of  Christ  had  been  predicted  as  one  of  the  essential 
marks  of  His  Messiahship,  and  its  realization  in  Our  Lord's 
person  is  put  beyond  question  by  the  testimony  of  the  New 
Testament  writers  and  of  tradition.* 

It  is  at  the  end  of  the  journey  of  Joseph  to  the  seat  of 
his  ancestors  that  Mary — who  had  accompanied  him, 
because  doubtless  at  this  particular  time  she  was  unwilling 
to  be  left  alone  at  Nazareth — gave  birth  to  Jesus,  "her 
first-born  Son."t  This  leads  us  to  speak  of  the  exact  date 
of  Our  Lord's  birth. 

The  precise  year  in  which  Christ  was  born  is  still  a 
matter  of  discussion  among  scholars.  They  agree  generally 
that,  when  in  the  6th  century  our  received  chronology 
was  framed,  an  error — which  has  hitherto  remained  uncor- 
rected— was  made  in  the  calculation  of  the  year  of  Our 
Lord's  birth  :  but  they  are  at  variance  in  their  estimate  of 
the  extent  of  this  error.  J  The  most  common  view  among 
them  is  that  the  date  of  Our  Lord's  birth  was  five  years 
earlier  than  is  represented  in  our  common  chronology  (749 
instead  of  753  u.c)  ;  and  we  may  remark  that  this  view 
harmonizes  well  with  our  data  regarding  both  the  latest 

*  For  further  information  see  Fouard,  vol.  i.,  appendix  iii.;  Andrews,  pp.  58-65, 
etc. 

t  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  title  of  "  first-bom,"  given  to  Jesus  by  St.  Mat- 
thew (i.  25)  and  St.  Luke  (ii.  7),  was  a  technical  expression  applied  to  all  who  had  a 
right  to  the  privileges  of  primogeniture,  without  regard  to  the  fact  that  they  were  or 
were  not  the  only  children  of  their  parents. 

t  The  dates  admitted  by  ancient  and  modem  critics  and  chronologists  are  as  follows  : 
7  B.C.  =  747  u.c.  Sanclemente,  Ideler,  Patrizi,  Wallon,  Bacuez,  Mdmain,  Rault,  Zumpt, 

Keim. 
6    "    =  748    "    Kepler,  Comely,  Lewin. 
5    "    =  749    "    Tillemont,  Petavius,  Lesetre,  Lecanu,  Schegg,  Fouard,  Fillion,  Bm- 

neau,  Gloag,  Godet,  Andrews,  Edersheim,  etc. 
^    «*     =  750    "    Lamy,  Bengel,  EUioott,  Pressens^,  Wieseler. 
3    "     =  751    "    TertulUan,  St.  Jerome,  Baronius. 
a    "    «s  752    "   Clement  of  Alexandria,  St.  Epiphanius,  CasparL 


THE    INCARNATION    AND    NATIVITY.  43 

and  the  earliest  year  at  which  the  birth  of  Christ  can  be 
put. 

The  latest  year  to  which  Our  Lord's  birth  can  be  assigned 
would  seem  to  be  the  year  750  u.c;  for  on  the  one  hand, 
St.  Matthew  tells  us  that  Jesus  was  born  during  the  lifetime 
of  Herod  the  Great,*  and  not  long  before  his  death  ;  \  and 
on  the  other  hand,  Josephus  \.  relates  facts  which  point  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  death  of  the  Jewish  king  took  place 
between  the  13th  of  March  and  the  4th  of  April,  75o-§ 

The  earliest  year  at  which  Our  Lord's  birth  can  be  put 
would  seem  to  be  749  u.c;  for  (i)  at  His  baptism  a  few 
months  before  the  Pasch  of  780  u.c,  Jesus  was  "about" 
thirty  years  of  age,  and  the  word  "  about,"  under  St.  Luke's 
pen,  hardly  allows  us  to  admit  that  Christ  was  then  one  full 
year  more  or  less  than  thirty  ;  (2)  the  universal  enrolment 
which  was  carried  out  in  Judaea,  and  occasioned  Our  Lord's 
birth  in  Bethlehem,  must  be  put  as  near  as  possible  to  the 
beginning  of  the  administration  of  Cyrinus,  and  Cyrinus 
was  governor  from  the  autumn  of  750  to  753  U.C. 

Thus,  then,  the  choice  remains  possible  between  the 
latter  part  of  749  and  the  beginning  of  750  u.c;  the  proba- 
bilities are  in  favor  of  749  u.c,  or  five  years  before  the 
Christian  vulgar  era. 

The  month  in  which  Our  Lord  was  born  may  be  deter- 
mined in  the  following  manner  :  From  St.  Luke  ||  we  gather 
that  the  conception  of  John  the  Baptist  took  place  in 
either  the  month  of  April  or  of  October,  and  counting 
onwards  fifteen  months — for  six  months  intervened  between 
the  annunciation  to  Zachary  and  that  to  Mary,  and  nine 
months  between  this  latter  event  and  the  birth  of  Jesus — 
we  reach  June  and  December^  in  one  or  other  of  which 
Christ's  birth  is  to  be  placed.     Now  when  we  bear  in  mind 

*  Matt.  ii.  i-6.  t  Ibid.,  19. 

X  Antiq.  of  the  Jews,  book  XVII.,  chap,  viii.,  §  i,  and  chap,  vi.,  §  4. 

§  See  art.  Chronology,  in  Hastings,  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  pp.  403,  404. 

U  Luke  i.  5,  24. 


44  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

that  in  the  night  Our  Lord  was  born  the  shepherds  tended 
their  flocks,*  we  feel  that  the  month  of  June  cannot  be 
thought  of,  because  in  this  month  the  fields  are  absolutely 
parched  around  Bethlehem  ;  in  the  month  of  December,  on 
the  contrary,  the  earth  is  clothed  with  rich  verdure,  so  that 
this  is  most  likely  the  month  in  which  Jesus  was  born.  In 
fact,  an  early  tradition  of  the  Church  designates  this  month 
as  the  time  of  Our  Lord's  birth. 

The  day  itself  on  which  Christ  was  born  is  believed  to 
have  been  the  25th  of  December,  through  an  immemorial 
tradition  of  the  Western  Church. f 

2.  Birth  of  Christ  in  Bethlehem.J  It  was,  then,  on 
this  memorable  day  (25th  of  December,  749  u.c),  that 
the  Incarnate  Word  of  God  was  born  in  Bethlehem,  the 
little  city  of  David,  according  to  the  prophecy  of  Micheas 
(v.  2). 

The  town,  as  it  now  stands,  is  situated  about  5  miles 
south  of  Jerusalem,  on  a  narrow  ridge  running  pretty  nearly 
east  to  west.  The  slopes  of  the  ridge  are  in  many  parts 
covered  by  terraced  gardens,  shaded  by  rows  of  olives,  with 
figs  and  vines.  On  the  top  of  the  hill  lies  the  village  in  a 
kind  of  irregular  triangle,  at  about  150  yards  from  the  apex 
of  which  is  the  noble  basilica  of  Justinian,  now  surrounded 
by  three  convents:  Greek,  Latin,  and  Armenian.  The 
houses  have  flat  roofs,  and  the  streets  are  narrow  and 
crooked  ;  the  population  is  about  8000  souls. 

Joseph  and  Mary  reached  Bethlehem  by  the  northwest, 
and  on  their  arrival  they  failed  to  find  accommodation  in 
the  inn,  crowded  by  earlier  comers.  Then,  as  now,  an  East- 
ern inn  was  simply  an  enclosed  space  surrounded  by  open 
recesses,  of  which  the  paved  floor  is  raised  above  the  ground. 
In  the  centre  there  is  the  courtyard  and  water  for  the 

*  Luke  ii.  8. 

t  Andrews,  pp.  1-21.    A  Catholic  Dictionary,  art.  Christinas.    Fouard,  i.,  p.  48,  etc. 

t  LuKB  ii.  4-7. 


THE   INCARNATION    AND    NATIVITY.  45 

cattle  ;  behind  is  found  the  stable,  which  in  that  region 
consists  sometimes  of  a  cave  of  limestone  ;  and  when  no 
place  can  be  had  in  the  inn,  travellers  must  be  satisfied 
with  a  corner  in  the  courtyard  or  else  in  the  stable.  So 
was  it  with  Joseph  and  Mary  when  they  reached  the  inn 
of  Bethlehem,  for  the  manger  spoken  of  by  St.  Luke  * 
suggests  that  they  either  withdrew  to  the  stable  of  the  inn 
itself,  or  to  some  neighboring  cave  used  at  the  time  for  the 
purpose  of  a  stable.  The  cave^  now  shown  as  the  Grotto  of 
the  Nativity,  is  southeast  from  the  town  and  covered  by  the 
Latin  convent.  It  has  been  modified  through  ages,  and 
is  now  38  feet  long  by  ii  wide,  and  9  feet  high.  A 
silver  star  in  a  marble  slab  at  the  eastern  end  marks  the 
precise  spot  where  Our  Lord  was  born.  Here  is  the  inscrip- 
tion :  Hie  de  virgine  Maria^  Jesus  Christus  natus  est.  Fine 
silver  lamps  are  always  burning  around.  The  manger  was 
taken  to  Rome  in  i486  by  Pope  Sixtus  V.,  but  a  marble 
one  has  taken  its  place.f 

The  tradition,  however  ancient,  which  speaks  of  an  ass 
and  an  ox  as  standing  over  the  crib,  is  probably  without 
sufficient  grounds.]; 

3.  The  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds. §  The  first  to 
worship  the  new-born  Saviour  were  humble  shepherds  who, 
on  the  night  of  Our  Lord's  birth,  tended  their  flocks  in  the 
fields,  or  on  the  eastern  hills  near  Bethlehem.  A  brilliant 
light  suddenly  dazzled  their  eyes,  and  an  angelic  voice  broke 
upon  their  ears.  Bidding  them  not  to  fear,  it  announced 
the  birth  of  the  Lord  Christ,  and  gave  them  a  sign  whereby 
they  would  find  Him  in  the  city  of  David.  Instantly  a 
heavenly  choir  chanted  the  praises  of  God,  saying : 

Glory  to  God  in  the  highest. 

On  earth  peace, 

Good  will  towards  men ! 

*  LuKB  ii.  7. 

t  Andrews,  pp.  83-87 ;  Vigouroux,  Dictionnaire  de  la  Bible,  art.  Bethl^em. 

t  Cfr.  FouARD,  vol.  L,  p.  47,  footnote  3.  §  Luke  ii.  8-ao. 


46  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

Obedient  to  the  heavenly  message,  the  shepherds  hastened 
to  make  proof  of  the  mysterious  sign  and  found  the  Babe  in 
the  manger. 

Having  offered  their  homage  to  the  divine  Infant,  they 
withdrew  praising  the  God  of  Israel  and  proclaiming  all 
that  they  had  seen  and  heard. 


SYNOPSIS    OF   CHAPTER   IV. 
The  Early  Infancy 


I. 


The  Eighth 
Day  after 
THE  Nativi- 
ty: 


II. 
The  Fortieth 
Day     after 
THE  Nativi- 


I.  Circumcision  and  Naming  of  Our  Lord. 


{Purification  of 
Mary 
Presentation 
of  Jesus 


Describedc 


2.  The  Two  Meet- 
ings: 


Simeon: 


The  person- 
age. 

Canticle  and 
words  to 
Mary. 


^Anna  the  prophetess. 
,  Historical  Conclusion  of  St.  Luke  ii.  39. 


in. 

The 
Epiphany: 


I.  Adoration 
of  the 
Magi: 


'  I.  Time  of  arrival  of  the  Magi. 

2.  Country  th.y  came  I  Aj»W^?^^ 

''°"-  (Persia? 

3.  Their    quality,    number,   and 

names. 

4.  The     star    (conjectures — how 

a  sign  to  the  Magi  ?). 


2.  Massacre  of  the  (  An  historical  fact. 

Holy  Inno-      •<  Number  of   children    mur- 
cents:  (      dered. 

{The     road     followed ;     the 
distance. 
Place    and    length    of    so- 
journ. 

47 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    EARLY    INFANCY. 

§  I.  The  Eighth  Day  after  the  Nativity* 

I.  Circumcision  and  Naming  of  Our  Lord.    Bom 

under  the  Law,  \  our  divine  Lord  willed  to  comply  faithfully 
with  its  various  prescriptions.  Among  the  many  rites  it 
enjoined  J  was  the  religious  ceremony  of  the  circumcision 
which  every  male  child  in  Israel  had  to  undergo  as  a  sign  of 
its  incorporation  into  the  chosen  people  of  God.  The  rite 
was  to  be  performed  exactly  on  the  eighth  day  after  the  birth 
of  the  child,  even  though  it  were  a  Sabbath  day.§  On  the 
eighth  day,  then,  after  His  birth.  Our  Lord  received  in  His 
sacred  flesh  the  bloody  incision,  the  spiritual  import  of 
which  was  death  to  sin.|| 

From  the  brief  notice  which  St.  Luke  gives  to  Our  Lord's 
circumcision  it  may  be  inferred  that  everything  took  place 
according  to  the  ceremonial  with  which  it  had  gradually 
come  to  be  surrounded  ;  in  presence  of  ten  witnesses,  the 
father,  or  some  other  member  of  the  family,  made  the  bloody 
incision  and  then  pronounced  the  accustomed  blessings. 

The  place  where  the  ceremony  was  carried  out  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  Gospel,  but  it  was  most  likely  either  the 
inn  of  Bethlehem,  or  the  house  where  the  Magi  found  Our 
Lord  later  on,  1  and  in  which  St.  Joseph  had  provided  ac- 
commodation as  soon  as  possible  for  Jesus  and  Mary. 

*  Luke  ii.  ai.       t  Galat.  iv.  4.        %  Levit.  xii.  3.        §  John  vii.  m,  13. 
II  Dkuter.  X.  16  ;    XXX.  6 ;  RoM.  ii.  28,  etc.  ^  Cfr.  Matt.  ii.  xx. 

48 


THE    EARLY    INFANCY.  49 

Together  with  the  circumcision,  Our  Lord  publicly  re- 
ceived the  name  which  had  been  destined  for  Him  by  God, 
the  sacred  name  Jesus.  This  name  corresponds  to  the 
Josue  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  means  "  Jehovah's  sal- 
vation "  :  it  was  given  to  Our  Lord  to  indicate  **  that  He 
should  save  His  people  from  their  sins."*  The  name  of 
Jesus  is  the  personal  name  of  Our  Lord,  and  that  of  Christ 
is  added  to  it  to  identify  Him  with  the  expected  Messias. 
It  must  be  noticed  that  others  besides  Our  Lord  have  borne 
the  name  of  Jesus.f 

§  2.    The  Fortieth  Day  after  the  Nativity \ 

I.  The  Two  Ceremonies  of  that  Day  Described. 

In  connection  with  the  birth  of  a  male  child,  the  Jewish 
Law  required  that  the  mother  should  remain  forty  days  sep- 
arated from  holy  things,§  and  that  at  the  end  of  this  period 
she  should  appear  at  the  Temple  with  the  sacrifice  of  a 
yearling  lamb  for  a  burnt-offering,  and  a  turtle  dove  or  a 
young  pigeon  for  a  sin-offering.  Those  who  could  not  af- 
ford to  bring  a  lamb  were  allowed  to  offer  a  turtle  dove  or 
a  pigeon  as  a  substitute  ;  and  it  is  an  evidence  of  the  humble 
station  of  Mary  that  she  brought  two  turtle  doves — the  of- 
fering which  was  permitted  to  the  poor. 

To  comply  with  these  requirements  of  the  Law,  Mary 
started  for  the  Temple  early  on  the  fortieth  day.  She  had  to 
appear  in  the  Court  of  the  Women  as  soon  as  the  morn- 
ing incense  had  been  offered.  There  her  two  turtle  doves, 
bought  either  from  the  Temple  officer,  or  from  the  mer- 
chants who  had  changed  the  Outer  Court  into  a  noisy  ba- 
zaar, would  be  taken  from  her  by  the  Levites  into  the 
Court  of  the  Priests  to  be  burned  on  the  altar.     After  a 

♦  Matt.  i.  21. 

t  Cfr.  for  example,  in  the  Old  Testament,  the  Prologue  to  Ecclbsiasticus,  and  in 
the  New  Testament,  Co  loss.  iv.  11. 
X  Luke  ii.  22-38.  §  Levit.  xii.  4  sq. 


5©  OUTLINES    OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

time,  a  priest  would  come  with  some  of  the  blood,  and  hav- 
ing sprinkled  her  with  it,  would  pronounce  her  clean. 

The  second  ceremony  to  be  gone  through  on  the  fortieth 
day,  was  prescribed  by  the  Jewish  Law  in  connection  with 
the  birth  of  a  first-born  son.  In  order  to  keep  alive  the  re- 
membrance that  God  had  delivered  the  Hebrews  from 
Egypt  by  the  death  of  the  Egyptian  first-born,  the  Law  re- 
quired that  every  first-born  male  should  be  sacred  to  Jeho- 
vah, *  and  after  subsequent  modifications  f  it  finally  pre- 
scribed that  all  the  first-born  should  be  presented  before  the 
Lord,  as  a  symbolical  act  of  surrender  for  His  service,  but 
they  could  be  redeemed  for  five  shekels  (about  $2.85),  from 
the  service  of  the  tabernacle. 

On  the  prescribed  day,  Joseph  and  Mary  were  in  the  Tem- 
ple to  present  Jesus  to  God  and  redeem  Him  from  the  ser- 
vice of  the  altar.  Joseph  declared  formally  to  the  priest 
that  Jesus  was  his  first-born  Son,  whom  he  offered  to  him  as 
to  God's  representative.  Upon  being  asked  which  he  pre- 
ferred, either  to  give  up  his  first-born  or  to  redeem  Him,  he 
answered  that  he  wished  to  redeem  Him,  and  handed  the 
money  to  the  priest  with  a  prayer.  The  priest  then  pro- 
claimed the  redemption  of  the  child,  and  concluded  the 
ceremony  with  a  prayer.  J 

2.  The  Two  Meetings  on  the  Fortieth  Day. 
While  Joseph  and  Mary  were  still  before  the  gate  of  the 
Court  of  the  Israelites,  a  man  named  Simeon  entered  this 
same  Court  by  the  Nicanor  gate.  Traditions  represent 
him  as  an  aged  man,  and  this  is  naturally  suggested  by  his 

*  ExoD.  xiii.  2.  +  Numb.  iii.  12  ;  rviii.  15,  16. 

X  The  details  connected  with  the  ceremonies  of  the  fortieth  day — as  indeed  most  of 
those  referring  to  old  Jewish  customs  throughout  the  present  work — are  not  found  in  the 
Gospel  narrative,  but  in  authoritative  Jewish  traditions  which  are  recorded  chiefly  in 
the  Talmud  or  uncanonical  written  law  of  the  Jews.  Many  of  these  traditions  reach 
up  to  the  earliest  times  of  Christianity,  and  have  been  used  with  great  success  by 
eminent  scholars  (such  as  Lightfoot,  Schottgen,  Zunz,  Jost,  Gratz,  Sepp,  writers  in  Bible 
cyclopaedias  and  dictionaries,  etc.),  to  illustrate  the  biblical  narrative.  While  freely 
availing  ourselves  of  the  results  of  their  labors,  we  will  refrain  from  mentioning  our 
sources  of  information,  in  order  not  to  overburden  our  pages  with  references. 


THE    EARLY    INFANCY.  51 

words,  as  recorded  in  St.  Luke  (ii.  29  sq.).  Some  attempts 
have  been  made  to  identify  him  with  Rabban  Simeon,  the 
son  of  the  great  Hillel,  and  father  of  Gamaliel,  who  was 
afterwards  president  of  the  Sanhedrim.* 

The  Gospel  narrative  describes  him  as  a  just  and  devout 
man  in  close  union  with  God,  whose  mind  was  filled  with 
an  earnest  longing  for  the  Messias,  as  the  **  Consolation  ef 
Israel.'"  He  had  been  favored  with  a  divine  assurance  that 
he  should  not  die  until  his  desire  had  been  fulfilled.  Under 
the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  he  came  into  the  Temple 
and  recognized  in  the  holy  Child  the  object  of  his  ardent 
desires.  Taking  Him  in  his  arms,  he  blesses  God,  and 
bursts  forth  into  the  canticle  known  in  the  evening  office 
of  the  Church,  as  the  "  Nunc  Dimittis.''  Simeon  desires 
no  longer  to  live,  for  he  has  seen  the  Saviour  promised  by 
Jehovah  to  all  nations — to  the  Gentiles  as  a  light,  and  to 
the  Jews  as  their  glory.  While  Joseph  and  Mary  were 
wondering  at  these  words,  Simeon  blessed  them  in  his  trans- 
ports of  joy  and  love,  and  with  prophetic  insight  spoke  of 
the  future  of  the  Child  and  His  mother. 

At  that  instant,  we  are  told,  an  aged  woman  (she  was  eighty- 
four  years  old)  of  the  tribe  of  Aser,  coming  in,  approached 
the  gate.  She  had  lost  her  husband  after  seven  years  of 
marriage,  and  had  ever  since  persevered  in  her  widowhood. 
Her  long  life  had  been  spent  in  deeds  of  piety,  either 
actually  dwelling  in  the  Temple  or  scarcely  leaving  it  for 
necessary  purposes.  She  also  gave  praise  to  Jehovah,  and 
spoke  of  the  Child  to  "  all  that  looked  for  the  redemption 
of  Israel." 

St.  Luke  concludes  this  section  of  his  Gospel  by  this 
statement,  that  when  Joseph  and  Mary  "  had  performed  all 
things  according  to  the  law  of  the  Lord,  they  returned  into 
Galilee,  to  their  city  of  Nazareth."  f  This  seems  to  con- 
flict with  what  is  said  in  the  narrative  of  St.  Matthew,^ 

♦Acts  v.  34.  t  Luke  ii.  39.  %  Matt.  ii.  i-\%. 


52  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

who  places  the  flight  into  Egypt  Jrom  Bethlehem  and 
before  the  departure  for  Galilee.  Several  solutions  of 
this  difficulty  have  been  proposed.  By  some  it  has  been 
supposed  that  Joseph  and  Mary  went  at  once  to  Nazareth 
to  settle  their  affairs  and  came  back  to  Bethlehem,  their 
return  being  followed  by  the  adoration  of  the  Magi  and  the 
flight  into  Egypt.  Others  hold  that  they  went  to  Galilee 
only  after  their  return  from  Egypt,  and  that  St.  Luke 
fails  here,  as  on  other  occasions,*  to  mark  accurately  the 
sequence  of  events,  either  because  he  was  not  concerned 
about  it  or  because  he  followed  simply  his  sources  of 
information,  in  which  the  order  of  events  was  not  taken  into 
account. 

§  3.   The  Epiphany, 

I.  The  Adoration  of  the  Magi.f  The  holy  Child 
was  sought  and  recognized  not  only  by  Jews  (the  shep- 
herds, Simeon,  and  Anna),  but  also  by  representatives 
from  the  Gentile  world.  These  were  the  Magi,  who  were 
seen  in  Jerusalem  inquiring  for  the  birthplace  of  the 
King  of  the  Jews.  The  particular  time  at  which  this 
occurred  has  ever  been  a  matter  of  discussion,  although  an 
early  tradition  places  the  visit  of  the  Magi  on  the  thirteenth 
day  after  Our  Lord's  birth  (January  6th),  and  this  date 
seems  to  be  in  harmony  with  St.  Matthew  who  apparently 
connects  the  adoration  of  the  Magi  directly  with  the  birth 
of  Jesus  in  Bethlehem. 

It  seems,  however,  impossible  to  place  this  event  before 
the  Purification  in  Jerusalem  on  the  fortieth  day,  for  Joseph, 
who  left  Bethlehem  immediately  after  the  departure  of  the 
Magi,  remained  in  Egypt  "  till  after  the  death  of  Herod," 
that  is,  several  months,  and  then  withdrew  to  Galilee  with- 
out coming  to  the  Holy  City.J 

*  Cfr.  LuKB  iv.  14.  t  Matt.  ii.  1-12.  XQix.  Matt.  ii.  13,  14,  i^aa. 


THE    EARLY    INFANCY.  53 

The  time  at  which  the  Wise  Men  arrived  at  Bethlehem 
may  therefore  be  determined  with  considerable  accuracy: 
they  came  after,  and  most  likely  only  a  few  days  after,  the 
Purification.  But  the  country  from  which  they  came  can- 
not be  indicated  with  the  same  amount  of  probability. 

The  Gospel  tells  us  that  the  Magi  came  *'  from  the 
East,"  a  general  expression  which  includes  all  the  nations 
east  of  Jerusalem,  even  Arabia  and  Persia.  Three  countries 
in  particular  have  been  suggested  by  commentators  :  (i) 
Arabia,  because  the  gifts  offered  by  the  Magi  are  native  to 
this  country,  and  also  because  of  the  prediction  in  Psalm  Ixxi. 
10,  15,  "  The  kings  of  the  Arabians  and  of  Saba  shall  bring 
gifts.  .  .  .  To  him  shall  be  given  of  the  gold  of  Arabia." 
But  the  gifts  offered  were  common  throughout  the  East, 
and  Arabia  is  perhaps  too  far  south  ;  (2)  Chaldaea, 
because  more  east  than  Arabia,  and  a  great  seat  of  astrol- 
ogy ;  (3)  and  with  greater  probability,  Persia,  because  of 
the  historical  association  of  the  word  "  Magi "  with  a 
priestly  Persian  caste,  and  also  because  early  pictures  in 
the  catacombs  represent  the  Magi  wearing  the  Persian 
dress. 

The  name  of  Magi  originally  belonged  to  a  high  sacer- 
dotal caste  among  the  Persians  and  Medes.  They  formed 
the  king's  privy  council,  and  cultivated  astrology,  medicine, 
and  occult  natural  sciences.  During  the  time  of  the  Chal- 
daean  dynasty  there  also  existed  an  order  of  Magi  at  the 
court  of  Babylon,*  of  whom  Daniel  was  made  the  presi- 
dent, f  Subsequently  the  name  was  applied  to  Eastern 
astrologers,  interpreters  of  dreams,  and  even  to  those  sor- 
cerers who  made  pretension  to  supernatural  knowledge-! 
The  whole  story  of  the  visit  of  the  Magi  leads  us  to  admit 
that  the  Wise  Men  who  came  to  worship  Our  Lord  were  not 
of  this  last  description  That  they  were  astrologers  or 
students  of  the  heavens  may  be  inferred  from  St.  Matthew 

*  Jbr.  xrrix.  3.  t  Dan.  ii.  48.  i  Acts  xiiL  8. 


54  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

(ii.  2),  "  we  have  seen  His  star  in  the  East.''  If  they  came  from 
Persia,  their  name  of  Magi — which  in  Persian  means  priest 
— would  naturally  suggest  that  they  belonged  to  the  priestly 
caste  of  that  country.  They  are  often  spoken  of  as  kings : 
it  is  more  probable,  however,  that  this  quality  was  ascribed 
to  them  on  account  of  Psalm  Ixxi.  10,  and  this  only  in  the 
sixth  century. 

Early  pictures  in  the  catacombs  represent  three  Magi 
worshipping  the  infant  Jesus.  The  names  of  Melchior, 
Balthasar,  and  Caspar  were  given  them  only  at  a  much 
later  period. 

Many  conjectures  have  been  made  about  the  star  which 
guided  the  Magi  from  Jerusalem  to  Bethlehem.  Some  take 
it  to  have  been  an  extraordinary  meteor  or  comet,  or  a  pass- 
ing star  such  as  has  been  seen  in  later  times  to  blaze  sud- 
denly forth  and  rapidly  disappear.  The  great  astronomer 
Kepler  calculated  that  some  time  before  Our  Lord's  birth 
(747  u.c.)  there  was  a  remarkable  conjunction  of  Saturn 
and  Jupiter  in  the  sign  of  Pisces,  to  which  in  the  spring  fol- 
lowing Mars  was  added  :  this  conjunction  many  take  as  the 
star  of  the  Magi.  Others  finally — and  with  greater  proba- 
bility— consider  this  star  as  a  purely  miraculous  sign  hav- 
ing the  very  peculiar  motion  indicated  by  St.  Matthew  (ii.  9), 
shedding  down  its  rays  in  some  remarkable  way  so  as  to 
indicate  a  peculiar  spot,  and  bearing  in  the  Gospel  narra- 
tive the  generic  name  of  "  j/^r."* 

But  whatever  the  star  was,  the  Wise  Men  took  it  as  a  sign 
of  the  birth  of  the  great  King  of  Judaea,  the  land  ruled  by 
that  section  of  the  heavens  in  which  it  was  seen.  They  may 
have  been  helped  to  this  conclusion  by  the  prophecy  of 
Balaam, f  by  the  prophecies  of  Daniel,  and  by  the  general 
expectation  which  at  the  time  seems  to  have  pervaded  the 
East,  that  a  king  should  arise  in  Judaea  to  rule  the  world  ; 

*  See  FouARD,  i.,  p.  382  ;  Andrews,  pp.  6-10. 
t  Numb.  xxiv.  17 


THE    EARLY    INFANCY.  55 

moreover,  great  multitudes  of  the  Jews  were  spread  through 
the  East,  and  their  Messianic  hopes  were  most  likely  known 
to  the  Magi.  However  all  this  may  be,  the  sight  of  the  star 
and  the  inner  workings  of  divine  grace  determined  them  to 
undertake  a  journey  to  the  far-distant  land  of  the  Jews. 

After  a  journey  of  about  four  months,  if  they  started  from 
Persia,  and  of  about  seventy  days,  if  they  came  from  Chal- 
daea,  the  Magi  arrived  at  the  Jewish  capital  expecting  to 
obtain  there  full  information  about  the  particular  place 
where  the  new  King  of  the  Jews  was  bom.  Their  question 
much  more  than  their  dress  excited  the  curiosity  of  the 
Holy  City. 

Scarcely  was  Herod  informed  of  their  question,  "  Where 
is  He  that  is  born  King  of  the  Jews  ? "  when  he  trembled  for 
his  crown  and  formed  an  artful  plan  to  get  rid  of  the  royal 
descendant  of  David,  whom  all  expected  at  that  time  as  the 
Messias.  He  therefore  consulted  the  chief  priests  and 
scribes  as  to  the  place  where  this  great  monarch  should  be 
bora,  and  the  Magi  regarding  the  time  when  the  star  had 
appeared.  Then  he  sent  the  latter  away  to  Bethlehem,  the 
city  of  David,  bidding  them  return  and  report  the  finding 
of  the  Babe  to  him,  on  the  pretext  that  he,  too,  wished  to 
worship  Him.* 

As  they  went,  the  star  reappeared,  and  guided  them  to 
"  the  house  "  where  Jesus  was.  Entering,  they  fell  do\\Ti 
before  the  Babe  and  presented  their  gifts :  gold,  frankin- 
cense, and  myrrh  ;  after  which,  in  compliance  with  a  divine 
warning,  they  left  for  their  own  country  without  coming 
back  to  Jerusalem. 

2.  The  Massacre  of  the  Holy  Innocents.f  The 
departure  of  the  Magi  from  Bethlehem  was  soon  reported 
to  Herod,  for  this  village  is  but  a  few  miles  distant  from  the 
Holy  City.  In  a  frenzy  of  passion  the  aged  tyrant  gave 
orders  for  the  massacre  of  all  the  male  children  in  Bethle- 

*  Matt.  ii.  3-8.  t  Matt.  ii.  13-18. 


56  OUTLINES    OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

hem  and  its  neighborhood  "  from  two  years  old  and  under." 
This  fact  is  not  recorded  by  Josephus,  it  is  true  ;  but  his 
silence  may  be  accounted  for  in  various  ways.  Neither  is 
it  mentioned  by  heathen  writers;  but  they  knew  little  about 
Jewish  internal  history.  At  any  rate,  the  order  to  slaughter 
the  Holy  Innocents  is  in  full  accordance  with  the  historical 
character  of  Herod  as  we  described  it  in  Chapter  II. 

Herod's  edict  extended  to  "  Bethlehem  and  its  neighbor- 
hood "  ;  its  victims  were  to  be  children  "of  two  years  old 
and  under."  This  latter  expression  indicates  that  on  the 
one  hand  two  years  was  the  extreme  limit  beyond  which  the 
tyrant  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  go,  and  that  on  the 
other  hand  he  did  not  know  what  exact  relation  the  time  of 
the  appearance  of  the  star  had  to  the  birth  of  Jesus. 

The  number  of  children  cannot  have  been  large:  perhaps 
fifty  were  slain;  some  writers  even  conjecture  that  the  num- 
ber did  not  exceed  ten  or  fifteen.* 

3.  The  Flight  into  Egypt,  f  Upon  the  departure  of 
the  Magi,  St.  Joseph,  warned  from  heaven,  fled  into  Egypt 
with  the  mother  and  the  divine  Infant,  so  that  the  cruelty 
of  Herod  missed  its  mark. 

The  route  followed  by  the  Holy  Family  was,  according  to 
tradition,  by  way  of  Hebron,  Gaza,  and  the  desert ;  and  as 
this  is  the  most  direct  way,  it  is  very  likely  the  true  one.  A 
few  hours  sufficed  to  place  them  out  of  danger;  and  after 
about  three  days'  journey  they  reached  the  Egyptian  boun- 
dary. 

Egypt  was,  at  the  time,  a  convenient  place  of  refuge, 
because  easily  reached  from  Judaea,  outside  of  Herod's 
power,  and  full  of  Jewish  residents.  The  particular  place 
where  St.  Joseph  settled  in  this  foreign  land  is  probably 
Metaryieh,  near  Heliopolis,  and  about  two  hours  distant 
from  Cairo.  There  he  waited  until  he  received  a  new  mes- 
sage from  heaven,  i.e.,  "  until  the  death  of  Herod."  X 

*  Andrews,  pp.  100- loa.  "t  Matt.  ii.  13-15.  t  Matt.  iL  15. 


SYNOPSIS   OF  CHAPTER  V. 
Life  of  Christ  in  Nazareth. 


I. 

First 
Years  of 
THE  Life 
OF  Jesus: 


I.  The    Return     (At  what  time? 
from  Egypt:  (  By  what  road  ? 


II. 

Youth 

AND 

Early 
Manhood 

OF 

Christ: 


2.  Developments 
of  His  Hu- 
man Life: 


Physical:  developments  both  real 
and  normal. 


'  Apparent  : 
St.  Luke. 


words    of 


Mental  :^ 


Real: 


Protestant 

views. 
Catholic 

teaching. 


3.  Apparition        (  At  the  age  of  twelve. 

among    the-?  Appeal    of    Mary.     Response   of 
Doctors:        (      Jesus. 


I.  His  Sur- 
round- 
ings: 


-,,        (The    province    of   Galilee 

Place-  1     described. 

riace.    j^^^^  ^^^^  ^^  Nazareth. 

The     j  A  mixed  population. 
People:  (  The  Jewish  element. 


Family 
and 
Rela- 
tives: 


'  Parents  :    St.    Joseph    dis- 
appears. 


'  Brothers 

and 
Sisters  ": 


Not  full  brothers 
and  sisters. 

Either   half 
brothers    and 
sisters. 

Or  only  cousins. 


2.  His  Oc- 
cupations: 


The  trade  of  St.  Joseph. 

No   special   training    under   any  great 

Rabbi. 
The  rest :  A  matter  of  conjecture. 

57 


CHAPTER  V. 

LIFE   OF   CHRIST    IN    NAZARETH. 

§  I.  First  Years  of  the  Life  of  Jesus, 

I.  Our  Lord's  Return  from  Egypt*  The  date  of  Our 
Lord's  return  from  Egypt  is  intimately  connected  with  the 
date  of  Herod's  death.  For  on  the  one  hand,  the  Gospel  tells 
us  that  St.  Joseph  remained  in  Egypt  till  he  received  word 
from  God,t  and  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  good  grounds  to 
admit  that  St.  Joseph  received  the  divine  message  very  soon 
after  the  death  of  Herod,  and  that  he  then  did  not  delay,  but 
rather  hastened  his  return. 

Considering  how  numerous  were  the  Jews  in  Egypt,  how 
constant  their  communications  with  Palestine,  how  great 
their  hatred  of  Herod,  it  is  certain  that  the  news  of  Herod's 
death  would  have  soon  reached  St.  Joseph  in  the  ordinary 
way  ;  but  it  was  first  made  known  to  him  by  the  angel  of  the 
Lord,  t  so  that  a  very  short  interval  must  be  admitted  be- 
tween the  death  of  the  monarch  and  the  angelic  message. 
That  St.  Joseph  hastened  his  return  upon  this  divine  mes- 
sage is  implied  in  the  fact  that  he  did  not  know  that  Ar- 
chelaus  was  Herod's  successor  till  he  reached  the  Holy 
Land.§  Now,  as  is  very  probable,  Herod  died  in  April, 
750  u.  c,  so  that  Our  Lord's  return  is  most  likely  to  be 
placed  in  this  same  year,  after  about  two  months  of  sojourn 
in  Egypt.  II 

*  Matt.  ii.  19-23.  t  Matt.  ii.  13,  19,  20.  \  Matt.  ii.  19. 

§  Matt.  ii.  22  ||  Cfr.  Andrews,  p.  i  sq. 

58 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST    IN    NAZARETH.  59 

The  intention  of  Joseph  was  to  settle  down  in  Bethlehem 
as  the  proper  place  in  which  to  rear  the  Son  of  David,  near 
Jerusalem,  from  which  the  Messias  was  expected  to  extend 
His  rule  over  the  world.  He  therefore  started  by  the  great 
caravan  road  which  connects  Egypt  with  Damascus.  This 
road  passes  by  Gaza  and  Ramleh  ;  and  it  is  probably  in 
this  last-named  town — which  is  connected  by  a  branch  road 
with  Jerusalem — that  Joseph,  in  obedience  to  a  new  divine 
message,  gave  up  his  purpose  to  reside  in  Bethlehem,  and 
withdrew  into  Galilee.  To  reach  this  province,  now  under 
the  rule  of  Herod  Antipas,  he  had  only  to  pursue  his  way 
on  the  caravan  road,  first  northward  through  the  plain  of 
Saron,  and  next  eastward  across  the  mountains,  into  the 
plain  of  Esdrselon.  A  little  north  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon 
lies  the  upland  town  of  Nazareth,  in  which  Joseph  took  up 
his    abode    again,  and  in  which  "  the  Child  grew  and 

WAXED  STRONG."  * 

2.  Developments  of  Our  Lord's  Human  Life.    The 

words  of  St.  Luke,  just  quoted,  point  to  what  all  grant  to 
have  been  the  real  condition  of  Our  'Lord's  physical  life, 
viz.,  a  condition  of  natural  development.  After  its  miracu- 
lous conception  in  the  virginal  womb  of  Mary,  f  Our 
Lord's  body  was  subject  to  the  ordinary  laws  of  growth  : 
from  helpless  infancy  %  it  passed  through  the  stage  of  child- 
hood,§  and  the  natural  increase  in  strength  and  age,  ||  into 
the  full  vigor  of  man's  estate.l"  The  physical  developments 
of  Christ's  human  life  were  then  both  real  and  normal. 

As  to  the  developments  of  His  mental  life,  they  are  the 
object  of  considerable  difficulty.  When  St.  Luke  writes  (ii. 
52)  "  AND  Jesus  increased  in  wisdom  and  age,"  it  is  plain 
that  the  Evangelist  refers  to  such  an  intellectual  growth  of 
Our  Lord  as  appeared  to  His  contemporaries  no  less  real 
than  His  actual  increase  in  years  and  bodily  strength.     The 

*  Luke  ii.  40.  t  Matt.  i.  20 ;  Lukb  i.  43.  %  Luke  ii.  7,  12. 

§  Luke  ii.  40.  I  Luke  ii.  40,  52.  1  Luke  iii.  23  ;  John  viii.  57. 


6o  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

difficulty  is  to  know  whether  such  growth  was  real  after  the 
manner  in  which  the  mind  of  a  child  gradually  expands  into 
all  manner  of  knowledge. 

Here,  recent  Protestant  writers  depart  considerably  from 
the  teachings  of  past  ages.  They  admit  that  the  growth 
undergone  by  Our  Lord's  mind  was  a  strictly  human  growth, 
with  all  its  weaknesses  and  imperfections  and  its  gradual 
acquisition  of  positive  knowledge.  According  to  them,  Jesus 
did  not  know  from  the  beginning  that  He  was  the  true  Son 
of  God ;  and  it  was  only  after  long  years  of  prayer  and 
reflection  that  He  became  absolutely  sure  of  His  Messianic 
calling.  Such  a  conception  of  Our  Lord's  mental  life  is 
hardly  reconcilable  with  His  divine  character,  and  contra- 
dicts not  only  the  constant  teachings  of  ecclesiastical  tra- 
dition, but  also  the  impression  which  the  Gospel  narrative 
produces  upon  the  mind  of  an  impartial  reader,  concerning 
Our  Lord's  knowledge  during  His  mortal  life.  * 

The  common  teaching  of  Catholic  theologians  is  entirely 
different.  They  admit  that  Our  Lord's  mind  was  endowed 
with  a  twofold  knowledge  which  was  not  susceptible  of  in- 
crease, viz.:  the  beatific  vision  and  an  infused  knowledge, 
in  virtue  of  which  He  was  ever  "  full  of  wisdom  and  of 
truth."  t  But  besides,  they  hold  that  His  mind  acquired 
an  experimental  'knovfltd.gty  the  actual  development  of  which 
depended  upon  the  natural  and  gradual  exercise  of  His 
mental  powers  acting  on  the  data  of  His  senses,  and  in  vir- 
tue of  which  He  was  truly  advancing  in  wisdom  as  He  in- 
creased  in  age.X  Such  a  co-existence  of  growth  in  knowledge, 
with  a  possession  of  all  its  ultimate  results,  is  not  without 
parallel  in  ordinary  human  life  ;  the  telescope,  for  instance, 
may  verify  a  result  of  which  we  have  been  previously  in- 
formed by  a  mathematical  calculation  ;  and  we  are  all  con- 

*  Cfr.  Luke  ii.  40  ;  John  i.  14 ;  ii.  24,  25. 
t  John  i.  14 ;  Luke  ii.  40. 
X  Luke  ii.  52. 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST    IN    NAZARETH.  6l 

stantly  learning  by  direct  observation,  things  already  known 
to  us.* 
3.  Our  Lord's  Apparition  among  the  Doctors,  t 

At  the  age  of  twelve,  a  Jewish  boy  began  to  be  instructed 
in  the  Law  and  to  be  subject  to  its  regulations. 
Among  these  stood  prominent  the  obligation  to  appear 
before  the  Lord  three  times  a  year,  and  as  Joseph  and  Mary 
had  no  longer  to  fear  the  cruelty  of  Archelaus,  who  had 
been  banished  the  year  before  by  Augustus,  they  took  up 
with  them  to  the  Holy  City,  and  for  the  first  time,  the  Child 
Jesus. 

This  was  on  the  occasion  of  the  Paschal  feast  of  the  year 
761  u.c.  [8  A.D.].  It  was  the  greatest  of  all  the  Jewish 
solemnities,  lasted  seven  days,  and  was  attended  by  countless 
Jews  who  came  to  Jerusalem  from  every  part  of  the  world. 
When  the  seven  days  were  over  and  the  various  caravans 
formed  of  kinsmen  and  fellow  countrymen  proceeded  on 
their  homeward  journey,  relatives  could  easily  be  separated 
without  feeling  any  anxiety.  Thus  it  was  that  Joseph  and 
Mary  did  not  feel  any  anxiety  when  they  first  noticed  the 
absence  of  Jesus  ;  they  simply  thought  that  "  He  was  in 
the  company,"  J  and  that  they  would  easily  find  Him  at  the 
end  of  their  first  day's  journey  home,  most  likely  at  Bee- 
roth,  about  10  miles  north  of  Jerusalem.  Not  finding 
Him,  however,  "  among  their  kinsfolk  and  acquaint- 
ance," they  spent  the  next  day  in  returning  to  the  Holy 
City  and  seeking  Him  there.  But  it  was  only  on  the  fol- 
lowing day — the  third  after  the  separation — that  they  found 
Him  within  the  sacred  precincts  of  the  Temple. 

The  precise  part  of  the  Temple  where  Our  Lord  was  sit- 
ting with  the  Jewish  doctors  cannot  be  identified  with  cer- 
tainty.    It  was  most  likely,  however,  the  Hall  of  Gazith, 

*  Cfr.  A  Catholic  Dictionary,  art.  Christ,  p.  153  sq.;  Dehaut,  Evangile  m^dit^,  etc.. 
i.,  p.  397  sq.;  LiDDON,  The  Divimty  of  Our  Lord,  p.  457. 
+  Luke  ii.  4i-';o.  t  Luke  43-44a. 


62  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

where  the  Sanhedrim,  together  with  the  scribes,  ordinarily 
assembled.  During  the  Paschal  festivities  in  particular,  the 
eminent  Jewish  doctors  of  the  time  sat  surrounded  by  great 
throngs  eager  to  be  instructed  by  them.  Jesus  was  among 
their  auditors,  and  He  soon  astonished  all  by  His  questions 
and  answers. 

At  the  sight  of  Jesus,  Mary  could  not  help  addressing 
to  Him  a  maternal  reproach,  which  was  at  the  same  time  an 
appeal  to  His  filial  love  for  Joseph  and  for  her.  "  Son,  why 
hast  Thou  done  so  to  us  ?  Behold  Thy  father  and  I  have 
Bought  Thee  sorrowing."  To  this  tender  appeal  of  His 
mother  Jesus  made  an  answer  full  of  mysterious  meaning  : 
"  How  is  it  that  you  sought  Me  ?  Did  you  not  know  that 
I  must  be  about  the  things  that  are  My  Father's  ? "  Even 
Joseph  and  Mary  did  not  realize  the  full  sense  of  these 
words,  for  we  are  expressly  told  that  "  they  understood  not 
the  word  that  He  spoke  unto  them." 

§  2.    Youth  and  Early  Manhood  of  Christ 

I.  His  Surroundings.  The  return  of  Jesus  to  Nazareth 
was  followed  by  a  long  period  of  silent  subjection  and  ob- 
scurity, of  which  the  Gospel  narrative  says  nothing,  beyond 
this  brief  statement  :  "  He  (Jesus)  went  down  with  them 
(Joseph  and  Mary),  and  came  to  Nazareth,  and  was  subject 
to  them."  *  But,  with  our  present  knowledge  of  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  time  and  place,  it  is  possible,  and  may 
prove  interesting,  to  obtain  a  distinct  idea  of  Our  Lord's 
surroundings  during  the  long  years  of  obscurity  which  pre- 
ceded, and  in  some  measure  extended  to,  His  public  min- 
istry. 

The  province  in  which  Jesus  spent  no  less  than  thirty 
years  of  His  mortal  life  is  Galilee,  the  northernmost  of  the 
three  parts  of  Palestine,  west  of  the  Jordan.    It  lay  almost 

*  LuKB  ii,  51. 


LIFE   OF   CHRIST    IN    NAZARETH.  63 

wholly  inland,  and  was  divided  into  Upper  and  Lower 
Galilee.  Upper  Galilee  comprised  the  mountain  range,  a 
prolongation  of  Anti-Lebanon,  which  lay  between  Phenicia 
and  the  upper  Jordan.  As  the  town  of  Capharnaum  was 
in  Upper  Galilee,  this  district  must  have  touched  to  the 
east  the  lake  of  Genesareth,  while  to  the  west  it  reached 
to  the  coast  of  Tyre  and  Sidon.*  Upper  Galilee  was  more 
especially  the  "  Galilee  of  the  Gentiles."  \  Lower  Galilee 
included  the  great  triangular  plain  of  Esdraelon,  with  its 
offshoots  which  run  down  to  the  Jordan  and  the  lake  of 
Genesareth,  and  the  whole  of  the  hill  country  adjoining  it 
on  the  north,  to  the  foot  of  the  mountain  range. 

From  the  writings  of  Josephus  %  it  may  be  gathered  that 
the  Galilee  of  Our  Lord's  time  had  a  rich  and  well-culti- 
vated soil,  that  it  abounded  in  fruit  and  forest  trees,  and 
that  numerous  large  towns  and  populous  villages — amount- 
ing to  no  less  than  240 — thickly  studded  the  face  of  the 
country.  And  there  is  no  doubt  that  Lower  Galilee,  in 
particular,  was  ever  one  of  the  richest  and  most  beautiful 
sections  of  the  Holy  Land. 

The  town  of  Nazareth — called  Our  Lord's  "  own  coun- 
try "  in  the  Gospels,  §  lies  on  the  western  side  of  a  small 
valley  of  Lower  Galilee,  a  little  north  of  the  plain  of  Es- 
draelon, about  14  miles  from  the  Sea  of  Galilee  and  66 
miles  north  of  Jerusalem,  in  a  straight  line.  It  is  reached 
from  the  plain  of  Esdraelon  by  rocky  and  precipitous 
paths,  and  its  population  in  Our  Lord's  day  is  variously 
estimated  from  5000  to  15,000  inhabitants.  Its  flat-roofed 
houses  are  to-day,  in  general,  built  of  stone,  and  have  a 
neat  and  comfortable  appearance,  but  its  streets  or  lanes 
are  narrow  and  crooked,  and  after  rain  are  so  full  of  mud 
and  mire  as  to  be  almost  impassable.  Nazareth  enjoys  a 
mild   atmosphere   and   climate,  and  all  the  fruits  of  the 

•  Makk  vii.  31.  t  Matt.  iv.  15. 

(  Wan  of  the  Jews,  book  III.,  chap,  iii.,  §  a;  Life,  §  45.         %  Matt.  dii.  54,  etc 


64  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

country — as  pomegranates,  oranges,  figs,  olives  — ripen  early 
and  attain  a  rare  perfection.  Its  present  population  is 
about  7500  souls.  At  the  northeast  of  the  town  is  the 
Fountain  of  the  Virgin^  whither,  it  is  supposed,  Jesus  often 
accompanied  Mary  when  she  went  to  draw  water,  as  the 
women  of  Nazareth  do  in  the  present  day. 

The  village  is  surrounded  by  some  fifteen  heights,  several 
of  which  rise  to  an  altitude  of  400  or  500  feet.  They  have 
rounded  tops  and  present  a  pleasing  aspect,  diversified  as 
they  are  with  the  foliage  of  fig  trees,  wild  shrubs,  occasional 
fields  of  grain,  and  countless  gay  flowers.  From  the  top 
of  the  hill  northwest  of  Nazareth  there  is  a  most  remarkable 
view  often  described  by  travellers,  and  preferred  by  Porter 
even  to  that  which  is  enjoyed  from  the  top  of  Mount  Thabor. 
Finally,  a  prevalent  tradition  indicates  as  the  Mount  from 
the  summit  of  which  the  inhabitants  of  Nazareth  wished  to 
throw  Our  Lord,*  a  hill  about  2  miles  southeast  of  the 
town. 

If  from  the  country  and  town  we  pass  to  the  people  in 
the  midst  of  which  Jesus  spent  His  youth  and  early  man» 
hood,  we  easily  notice  that  it  was  a  mixed  population,  the 
various  foreign  elements  of  which — Assyrians,  Phenicians, 
Greeks,  Romans,  Arabs — had  been  brought  thither  by 
trade,  exercise  of  power,  or  the  natural  intermingling  of 
the  neighboring  populations,  as  Galilee  was  the  great  thor- 
oughfare between  Syria  and  Egypt.  The  Galilean  Jews 
were  fervent  worshippers  of  Jehovah,  and  crowded  to  the 
Holy  City  at  the  feasts  and  to  the  local  synagogues  on  Sab- 
bath days.  Far  from  admitting  new  doctrines,  they  re- 
mained extremely  faithful  to  the  Law,  most  likely  because  of 
the  influence  of  the  Pharisees  and  doctors  of  the  Jews,  who 
seem  to  have  been  settled  in  every  town.  Contact  with 
strangers  did  nor  affect  their  morals,  and  their  courage 
could  not  be  questioned  ;  and  yet  they  were  despised  by  the 

♦  LuKH  iv.  ag. 


LIFE   OF    CHRIST    IN    NAZARETH.  65 

Jews  of  the  south,  who  boasted  to  live  near  the  Temple, 
amid  a  less  mixed  population,  on  a  holier  soil,  to  possess 
a  greater  culture  and  to  speak  a  purer  dialect. 

That  Nazareth  had  a  worse  name  among  them  than  any 
other  Galilean  town  is  not  proved.  * 

In  the  home  itself  at  Nazareth  we  find  two  persons 
most  dear  to  Jesus  and  whom  the  gospels  call  His  parents; 

1.  Mary,  His  true  mother,  of  the  race  of  David,  married 
young  to  Joseph,  and  who  survived  both  Joseph  and  Jesus. 

2.  Joseph,  a  descendant  of  David,  working  at  his  trade  for 
his  daily  bread,  the  foster-father  of  Jesus,  and  who  died 
before  Him — a  tradition  says  when  Jesus  was  eighteen 
years  old. 

Besides  His  parents  Our  Lord  had  relatives,  who  lived 
also  in  Nazareth,  and  perhaps  under  the  same  roof  with 
Him.  They  are  indeed  called  in  the  gospels  "  His 
BROTHERS  "  and  "  His  sisters,"  f  never  His  cousins  or  kins- 
men ;  but  all  grant  that  this  does  not  necessarily  define  the 
degree  of  relationship  which  they  bore  Him,  and  in  fact 
scholars  are  still  divided  respecting  this  difficult  question.  J 

Many  Protestant  writers  think  that  these  relatives  were 
the  full  brothers  and  sisters  of  Jesus,  or  children  both  of 
Joseph  and  Mary,  the  mother  of  the  Lord.  This  view 
would  have  the  advantage  that  it  takes  the  words  "  broth- 
ers "  and  "  sisters  "  in  their  strictest  natural  sense  ;  and  after 

♦  Cfr.  John  i.  46. 

t  Cfr  Matt.  xii.  46-50 ;  xiii.  55,  56 ;  Mark  iii.  31 ;  vi.  3 ;  Luke  viii.  19,  20;  John  ii, 
12;  vii.  3,  5  ;  cfr.  also  Acts  i.  14 ;  i  Cor.  ix.  5. 

X  Catholic  writers  on  this  question :  Pillion,  Commentaire  sur  St  Matthieu,  p. 
283  sq.;  ViGOUROUx,  Manuel  Biblique,  iii.,  N.  181  ;  Livres  Saints  et  Critiques  Rational- 
istes,  tome  iv.;  Reithmayr,  Introduct.  au  Nouveau  Testament,  ii.,  p.  346,  sq.;  Fouard, 
I.  p.  383  sq. 

Non-Catholic  writers:  Lange-Schaff,  Commentary  on  St.  Matthew,  p.  255  sq.; 
Andrews,  pp.  111-123  ;  Mill,  Observations,  ii.,  p.  221  sq.;  Ellicott,  On  Galatians, 
ch.  i.,  419;  Salmon,  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament,  p.  474  sq.;  Lightfoot,  Dis- 
sertations on  the  Apostolic  Age,  pp.  1-45. 

Bible  Dictionaries,  cfr.  Smith,  art.  James,  Brother,  etc.;  A  Catholic  Dictioiv- 
ary,  art.  Mary,  p.  155  sq.;  Hastings,  art.  Brethren  of  the  Lord. 


66  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY." 

having  been  admitted  by  ancient  heretics,*  written  down  by 
St.  Jerome,  it  has  been  revived  in  Germany  by  Herder, 
Strauss,  etc.;  in  England  by  Alford,  Edersheim,  etc.;  and  in 
America  by  Schaff,  Lyman  Abbott,  Easton,  Gould,  etc. 
But  it  is  irreconcilable  with  the  ancient  and  constant  tradi- 
tion of  the  Church,  which  has  made  the  perpetual  vir- 
ginity of  Mary  an  article  of  Catholic  belief.  It  is  also  re- 
pugnant to  the  common  instinct  of  Christians,  who  have 
ever  felt  *'  that  the  selection  of  a  woman  to  be  the  mother 
of  the  Lord  carries  with  it  as  a  necessary  implication  that 
no  other  could  sustain  the  same  relation  to  her,  and  that 
the  selection  of  a  virgin  still  more  necessarily  implied  that 
she  was  to  continue  to  be  so."  f  Even  from  a  lower  stand- 
point this  view  is  hardly  compatible  with  the  fact  that  our 
dying  Saviour  intrusted  His  mother  to  St.  John,  if  she  had 
other  children  to  take  care  of  her.J  Finally,  while  the 
words  "brother,"  "sister,"  may  certainly  be  understood 
Otherwise  than  in  their  strict  natural  sense,  it  is  significant 
that  nowhere  in  the  gospels  are  those  relatives  of  Jesus 
called  the  children  of  Mary^  the  mother  of  the  Lord.  It  is 
plain,  therefore,  that  the  "  brothers  "  and  "  sisters "  of 
Jesus  were  not  YL\%  full  brothers  and  sisters. 

When  this  erroneous  view  has  been  set  aside  two  opinions 
remain,  each  with  its  respective  amount  of  probability.  The 
first  maintains  that  these  relatives  of  Our  Lord  were  only 
His  half-brothers  and  half-sisters,  or  children  of  Joseph  by 
a  former  marriage.  This  view  goes  back  to  the  earliest  ages 
of  Christianity  ;  it  has  been  admitted  by  many  of  the 
Fathers,  both  Greek  and  Latin,  and  is  in  the  present  day 
the  current  notion  of  the  Greek  Church.  It  does  not  present 
any  unsurmountable  difficulty,  and  has  the  advantage  that 
it  takes  the  words  "  brothers^'  "  sisters^'  in  a  natural  sense. 

The    second    opinion  takes  the  words  ^"^ brothers*'  ** sts- 

*  Helvidius,  Jovinian.  t  Alexakdbr,  quoted  by  Andrews,  p.  laa. 

%  John  adx.  26,  a?. 


LIFE    OF    CHRIST    IN    NAZARETH.  67 

ters^*  in  a  broad  sense  as  equivalent  to  ^^  cousin."  This 
view  was  strongly  advocated,  and,  indeed,  to  all  appearance, 
started,  by  St.  Jerome.  Under  the  influence  of  this  great 
Doctor  it  has  become  the  current  opinion  of  the  Latin 
Church.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  words  "  brother,'' 
^^  sister,''  may  be  understood  as  equivalent  to  "cousin." 
Again,  if  Our  Lord  had  no  brother  in  the  natural  sense  of 
the  term  we  understand  easily  why  He  gave  John  to  Mary 
as  her  son.  It  has  also  been  noticed  that  Jesus  is  desig- 
nated at  Nazareth  by  an  appellation  usual  to  the  only  son 
of  a  widow*  For  these  and  other  such  reasons  this  third 
opinion  remains  very  probable,  although  its  partisans  seem, 
at  times,  to  rely  too  much  on  conjectures  to  strengthen 
their  position. 

2.  Our  Lord's  Occupations.  The  life  of  Jesus  in 
Nazareth  was  indeed  a  life  of  obscurity.  Subject  to  His 
parents,!  as  all  good  children  are,  He  was  simply  known  as 
the  "  carpenter's  son  "X  and  as  the  "  carpenter. "§  This  last 
expression  implies  that  He  had  learned  and  that  He  ac- 
tually toiled  at  the  humble  trade  of  His  foster-father.  We 
can  gather  also  that  He  received  none  of  the  curious  learn- 
ing of  the  time,  and  was  subjected  to  no  special  training 
under  any  great  rabbi,  such  as  St.  Paul  had  under  Gama- 
liel :  for  we  are  told  that  "  the  Jews  wondered,  saying  ; 
How  doth  this  man  know  letters,  having  never  learned  ?"  || 

This  is  all  we  know  for  certain  about  Our  Lord's  occu- 
pations during  His  youth  and  early  manhood.  Several  at- 
tempts have  been  made  to  fill  up  the  gaps  of  the  sacred 
narrative  and  to  present  a  fuller  picture  of  the  life  of  Jesus 
in  Nazareth. 

The  first  of  these  attempts  goes  back  to  the  early  times 
of  Christianity,  when  it  gave  birth  to  legendary  accounts, 
samples  of  which  have  come  down  to  us  in  the  gospel  of 
Thomas  and  the  Arabic  gospel  of  the  infancy.     No  one 

♦MARKvi.  3.    tLuKBii.  51.      J  Matt.  xiii.  55.    §  Mark  vi.  3.     D  John  vii.  ij. 


68  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

can  peruse  these  apocryphal  gospels  without  feeling  of  how 
little  use  they  must  ever  remain  to  complete  the  picture 
drawn  from  the  sacred  text.  They  hardly  ever  record  a 
fact  of  real  importance  not  already  supplied  by  our  canoni- 
cal gospels,  while  they  abound  in  wonders  which  they 
ascribe  to  Jesus,  and  of  a  character  always  unlikely,  some- 
times even  childish. 

This  is  also  the  case,  to  a  large  extent,  with  the  descrip- 
tions of  Our  Lord's  life  in  Nazareth  which  were  drawn  dur- 
ing the  Middle  Ages.  They  breathe  the  childlike  piety  of 
the  time,  but  also  bespeak  its  great  lack  of  acquaintance 
with  Oriental  customs  and  manners.  Only  in  our  century 
have  really  scientific  efforts  been  made  to  retrace  in  descrip- 
tions that  would  be  true  to  life  the  youth  and  early  man- 
hood of  Christ.  Contemporary  scholars  have  availed 
themselves  of  all  the  sources  of  information  at  their  dis- 
posal to  describe  accurately  the  manner  of  life  of  a  young 
and  poor  artisan  of  Galilee  in  the  time  of  Christ,  and  they 
bid  us  contemplate  in  the  picture  thus  drawn  a  faithful 
image  of  Our  Lord's  life  in  Nazareth.  Like  the  other  young 
men  of  His  time  and  country,  we  are  told,  Jesus  frequented 
the  school  of  Nazareth  and  received  the  ordinary  instruc- 
tion imparted  there  ;  attended  divine  service  in  the  syna- 
gogue of  that  city  on  the  Sabbath  and  festival  days  ;  went 
up  with  the  Galilean  caravans  to  Jerusalem  for  the  yearly 
celebration  of  the  Pasch,  etc.  Of  course,  as  the  divine 
character  of  Jesus  remained  absolutely  concealed  during 
this  period  of  His  life,  it  is  only  natural  to  picture  Him  to 
ourselves  as  conforming  to  the  ordinary  ways  of  the  young 
men  of  His  time  and  condition.  It  remains  true,  however, 
that  we  have  no  positive  information  about  the  extent  it 
pleased  the  Son  of  God  to  conform  to,  or  dispense  with,  the 
natural  conditions  of  the  time,  so  that  many  features  of  His 
life  in  Nazareth  as  described  by  recent  scholars  must  ever 
appear  an  object  of  more  or  less  plausible  conjecture. 


SYNOPSIS   OF   CHAPTER  VI. 

The   Social   and   Religious   Condition  of  the  Jews 
DURING  the  Lifetime  of  Jesus. 


Social 
Condition:  ' 


r.  The  Sons  of  Herod  J  H"o4Ph»ipn. 


'Men  ; 
titles  ; 
terri- 
tories. 


When  imposed  ? 


2.  Immediate  Roman 
Domination  over 
Judaea: 


How  exer- 
cised ? 


f  Pharisees 
3.  The     1  n  terna  1 J  Sadducees 
Divisions:  |  Essenes 

I  Samaritans 


r      Under 
J  Augustus. 
1      Under 
[Tiberius. 


Origin  ; 
tenets  ; 
influence. 


II. 
Religious 
Condition: 


I.  The  Temple  of  (  Situation  and  general  aspect. 
Jerusalem:  )  Description  of  enclosures  and 
■'  (      of  Temple  proper. 


and 


2.  The  Aaronitical  (  ?J^  ^i^^Pj^  PP"'^/      .   , 

Priesthood:      1  The   high  priest   (social 
(      religious  influence). 

%  TheSvnaffOffues-  -i  <^"g^"  ^^^  development. 

3.  inesynagogues.  -j  Organization  and  authority. 


4.  The  Scribes: 


5.  The  Sanhedrim 


{Who    they    were     and     how 
divided  ? 
On  what  did  they  rest  their 
traditions  ? 


(  Origin,  c< 
(      thority. 


constitution  and  au- 


69 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE     SOCIAL    AND     RELIGIOUS    CONDITION     OF     THE     JEWS 
DURING    THE   LIFETIME    OF   JESUS. 

§  I.  Social  Condition. 

I.  The  Sons  of  Herod  the  Great  The  last  will  of 
Herod  the  Great  having,  after  a  time,  been  confirmed  by 
Augustus,  Palestine  was  divided  between  three  of  his  sons  : 

(i)  Herod  Philip  H.,  a  son  of  Herod  and  Cleopatra  of 
Jerusalem,  became  tetrarch  of  Gaulanitis,  Trachonitis,  Ba- 
tanea,  and  the  district  of  Panaeas.*  He  was  a  just  and 
moderate  ruler,  entirely  devoted  to  the  duties  of  his  office. 
He  rebuilt  Panaeas,  near  the  sources  of  the  Jordan,  and 
called  it  Caesarea,  in  honor  of  the  emperor.  As  he  left 
no  children,  at  his  death  his  dominions  were  annexed  to 
the  Roman  province  of  Syria.  He  ruled  thirty-seven  years, 
from  B.C.  4  to  a.d.  34. 

(2)  Herod  Antipas,  a  son  of  Herod  the  Great  and 
Malthace,  a  Samaritan,  was  appointed  tetrarch  of  Galilee  and 
Peraea.f  In  character  he  was  unscrupulous,  tyrannical  J 
and  weak,  §  cruel  and  cunning,  ||  though  not  remorseless.  ^ 
He  was  a  truly  Eastern  despot,  capricious  and  sensual.  In 
defiance  of  the  Jewish  law  he  had  married  the  wife  of 
Herod  Philip — his  brother,  who  was  then  living  as  a  private 
citizen  in  Rome — and  this  led  him  to  the  murder  of  John 
the  Baptist.  It  was  before  this  prince  that  Our  Lord  ap- 
peared at  the  time  of  His  passion. 


*  Luke  iii.  i. 

t  LUKB  iu.  I. 

X  Luke  iii.  19-21. 

§  Matt.  ziv.  9. 

U  Luke  ziii.  32. 
70 

If  Mark  vi.  14. 

SOCIAL    AND    RELIGIOUS   CONDITION    OF    THE    JEWS.       7 1 

His  greatest  architectural  work  was  the  erection  of  a  city 
which  he  called  Tiberias,  in  honor  of  the  emperor.  After 
his  banishment  to  Lyons,  in  Gaul,  his  territories  were  given 
to  Herod  Agrippa  I.,  his  nephew.  He  was  tetrarch  forty- 
one  years,  from  B.C.  4  to  a.d.  38. 

(3)  Archelaus,  like  Herod  Antipas,  was  a  son  of  Herod 
and  Malthace.  He  did  not  enter  upon  his  possessions 
without  opposition  and  bloodshed,  but  Augustus  confirmed 
the  will  of  Herod  in  its  essential  provisions.  Archelaus  re- 
ceived the  title  of  ethnarch,  with  the  promise  of  that  of 
king  if  he  should  rule  to  the  satisfaction  of  Augustus. 
His  territories  included  Idumaea,  Judasa,  and  Samaria.  By 
his  tyranny  and  cruelty  he  roused  his  subjects  to  appeal  to 
Rome  for  redress.  He  appeared  before  the  emperor,  and 
after  his  cause  was  heard  he  was  banished  to  Vienna,  in 
Gaul.  After  a  rule  of  ten  years  (b.c.  4  to  a.d.  6)  his  terri- 
tories were  annexed  to  the  Roman  province  of  Syria,  and 
thus  Judaea  was  placed  under  the  immediate  Roman 
domination.* 

2.  The  Immediate  Roman  Domination  over 
Judaea.  The  Jews  had  asked  for  this  direct  government  of 
Rome  at  the  death  of  Herod  the  Great,  in  the  hope  that 
the  Romans  would  allow  them  to  manage  their  national 
affairs  after  their  own  customs,  under  their  high  priests. 
This  hope  was  revived  by  the  banishment  of  Archelaus,  but 
it  did  not  last  long.  Judaea  and  Samaria  were  united  to 
Syria,  of  which  Publius  Cyrinus  was  made  president  or  pro- 
praetor, while  the  immediate  direction  of  affairs  was  given 
to  2l  procurator^  residing  at  Caesarea.  The  powers  of  this 
inferior  officer  cannot  be  exactly  defined.  In  general,  he 
was  subject  to  the  president  of  the  province;  yet,  in  districts 
lying  far  from  the  main  province,  he  seems  to  have  had  a 
large  discretionary  power,  a  considerable  number  of  troops 

*  Cfr.  ScHURBR,  division  I.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  10  sq. ;   Seidel,  In  the  Time  of  Jesus,  pp. 
79-86. 


72  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

at  his  disposal,  and,  in  certain  cases,  the  power  of  life  and 
death. 

The  immediate  Roman  domination  was  exercised  over 
the  various  provinces  of  the  empire  in  an  irritating,  vexa- 
tious, and  oppressive  manner,  but  it  was  particularly  so  in 
Judaea,  on  account  of  the  peculiar  character  of  the  Jews, 
which  contrasted  so  much  with  that  of  the  Romans.* 

It  must  be  said,  however,  that  under  Augustus  the  rule 
of  Rome  over  the  Jews  was  fairly  tolerable;  but  the  exer- 
cise of  the  Roman  power  required  chiefly  two  taxes:  2ipoll 
and  a  land  tax,  the  latter  tax  amounting  to  one-tenth  of  all 
grain  and  two-tenths  of  fruit  and  wine.  To  establish  these 
taxes  a  second  census  was  necessary.  The  fiercer  spirits  in 
Judaea  rebelled  at  the  idea  that  iht  fruits  of  a  land  con- 
secrated to  Jehovah  should  be  given  to  pagan  strangers,  and 
that  tithes  to  be  paid  to  God  alone  should  henceforth  be 
paid  to  a  heathen  lord.  Judas,  the  Galilean,  led  the  insur- 
rection against  the  census:  he  perished,  and  his  followers 
dispersed.! 

Towards  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Augustus  the  procura- 
tors of  Judaea  succeeded  one  another  rapidly;  but  his  suc- 
cessor, Tiberius,  pursued  a  different  policy.  During  his 
long  reign  Judaea  had  only  two  procurators:  Valerius 
Gratus  (a.d.  15-26)  and  Pontius  Pilate  (a.d.  26-36). 

Under  Gratus  things  went  from  bad  to  worse.  He 
changed  the  high  priests  five  times  in  eleven  years,  and  the 
load  of  public  taxes  became  so  unendurable  that  the  Jews 
appealed  to  Rome  for  relief;  but  in  all  probability  their  en- 
treaties did  not  bring  them  any  alleviation  of  misery.  The 
successor  of  Gratus  was  Pontius  Pilate,  the  very  type  of  the 
rich  and  corrupt  Roman  of  his  age.  He  was  a  worldly- 
minded  statesman,  conscious  of  no  higher  wants  than  those 
of  the  present  life,  yet  by  no  means  unmoved  by  feelings 

*  See  Gbikie,  Life  of  Christ,  chap  xviii. 

t  Cfr.  JosEPHUS,  Antiq.  of  the  Jews,  book  XVIII.,  chap,  i.,  §  i. 


SOCIAL    AND    RELIGIOUS   CONDITION    OF    THE    JEWS.       73 

of  justice  and  mercy.  But  all  his  better  feelings  were  over- 
powered by  a  selfish  regard  for  his  own  security. 

As  specimens  of  his  administration  we  may  notice  the 
four  following  facts: 

(i)  He  transferred  the  winter  quarters  of  the  army  from 
Caesarea  to  Jerusalem;  hence  the  soldiers  introduced  into 
the  Holy  City  the  Roman  standards,  on  which  were  the 
image  of  the  emperor  and  the  imperial  eagle.  No  previous 
governor  had  ventured  on  such  an  outrage  and  Pontius 
Pilate  had  sent  his  men  in  by  night.  The  Jews  poured 
down  in  crowds  to  Caesarea  to  obtain  from  him  the  removal 
of  the  odious  symbols.  Pilate  yielded  after  five  days  of  re- 
sistance, and  the  standards  were  withdrawn. 

(2)  On  another  occasion  he  hung  up  in  his  palace,  at 
Jerusalem,  some  gilt  shields  which  were  simply  inscribed 
with  the  names  of  the  donor  and  of  the  deity  to  which  they 
were  consecrated.  This  the  Jews  so  resented  that  they  ap- 
pealed to  Tiberius,  and  they  obtained  the  removal  of  the 
shields  objected  to. 

(3)  On  the  appropriation  by  Pilate  of  the  revenue  arising 
from  the  redemption  of  vows  to  the  construction  of  an 
aqueduct  a  riot  ensued.  It  was  suppressed  by  means  of 
soldiers  sent  among  the  crowds,  armed  with  concealed  dag- 
gers, and  who  slew  not  only  rioters,  but  also  casual  spectators. 
The  aqueduct  was  completed  without  further  hindrance. 

(4)  Later  on  he  slaughtered  certain  Galileans  at  some 
great  festival  at  Jerusalem.  This  apparently  took  place  in 
the  Outer  Court  of  the  Temple,  since  the  blood  of  the  wor- 
shippers was  mingled  with  their  sacrifices.* 

The  conduct  of  Pilate  was  equally  tyrannical  towards  the 
Samaritans;  and  on  their  complaint  to  Vitellius,  then  presi- 
dent of  Syria,  he  was  ordered  to  go  to  Rome,  whence  it 
seems  Caligula  banished  him  to  Vienna,  in  Gaul.f 

*  Luke  xiii.  i. 

t  Cfr.  JosEPHUS,  Antiq.  of  the  Jews,  book  XVIII.,  chaps,  iii..  iv.;  Schwrer,  division 
I.,  vol.ii.,  pp.  83-87- 


74  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

3.  The  Internal  Divisions.  The  Pharisees  formed 
the  most  prominent  party  or  guild  among  the  Jews  during 
the  lifetime  of  Our  Lord.  As  their  name  indicates,  they 
originally  arose  as  champions  of  the  separateness  of  the  Jew- 
ish people  from  other  nations.*  They  consequently  held 
fast  by  the  distinctive  beliefs  of  the  Jewish  race,  as,  for  in- 
stance, the  hope  of  a  great  national  deliverer  in  the  person 
of  a  Messias,  the  doctrine  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  of 
a  divine  Providence,  of  an  oral  tradition  equal  in  authority 
with  the  written  law.  Nor  were  they  less  zealous  in  carry- 
ing out  the  external  observances  of  their  ancestors,  such  as 
fasts,  prayers,  tithes,  ablutions,  sacrifices,  etc.  They  were 
ardent  patriots,  ever  willing  to  lay  down  their  lives  for  the 
national  independence,  and  hating  the  foreign  yoke  with  a 
bitterness  mingled  with  scorn.  The  multitudes,  although 
not  actually  enrolled  among  the  Pharisees,  were  under  their 
sway,  and  zealously  adhered  to  a  party  so  intensely  national 
in  politics  and  orthodox  in  religion.  To  the  Pharisaic  party 
belonged  also  most  of  the  scribes.  Finally,  although  there 
were  found  noble  characters  among  the  leaders  of  the 
party,  self-conceit,  arrogance,  and  hypocrisy  had  become  the 
general  characteristics  of  the  sect. 

The  origin  of  the  Sadducees  is  probably  to  be  traced  to 
a  natural  tendency  opposed  to  that  which  gave  birth  to  the 
Pharisaic  party,  viz.,  the  desire  to  tide  closely  with  the 
ruling  power.  Their  opposition  to  the  Pharisees  extended 
both  to  religious  tenets  and  to  social  customs.  They  notably 
denied  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  the  existence  of  a  divinely 
revealed  oral  tradition,  etc.  They  ridiculed  Pharisaic  exclu- 
siveness,  affected  Greek  culture,  enjoyed  foreign  amuse- 
ments, and  thought  it  useless  to  fight  for  the  freedom  of 
their  country.  They  belonged  chiefly  to  the  upper  and 
wealthy  classes,  and  formed  a  kind  of  priestly  aristocratic 

•  For  details  see  Outlines  of  Jewish  History,  p.  351  sq. 


SOCIAL    AND    RELIGIOUS   CONDITION    OF    THE    JEWS.       •JC 

party  in  close  alliance  with  the  ruling  power  ;  an  extreme 
section  of  them  were  the  Herodians. 

The  origin  of  the  Essenes  is  very  obscure.  In  the 
time  of  Josephus,  the  Essenes  lived  in  small  colonies  or 
villages  at  long  distances  from  the  towns,  principally  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  Dead  Sea.  The  differences  between 
them  and  the  Pharisees  lay  mainly  in  rigor  of  practice  and 
not  in  articles  of  belief.  Those  who  wished  to  join  them 
had  to  pass  through  two  periods  of  probation.  They  em- 
ployed themselves  chiefly  in  agriculture  and  were  devoted 
to  silence  and  contemplation.  Some  of  them  lived  in  ordi- 
nary society,  as,  for  instance,  Menahem,  a  friend  of  Herod  ; 
but  they  generally  formed  an  exclusive  and  isolated  com- 
munity. Their  organization  resembled  closely  that  of  our 
monastic  orders. 

For  centuries  the  Samaritans  had  been  despised  by  the 
Jews,  as  a  mixed  race  descending  from  the  Assyrian  colo- 
nists who  had  settled  in  the  land  of  Israel  when  the  northern 
kingdom  was  destroyed  in  the  eighth  century  before  Christ. 
At  the  time  of  Our  Lord,  the  hatred  between  the  Jews  and 
the  Samaritans  had  reached  its  climax;*  and  this  is  ex- 
plained by  several  contemporary  events  :  notably,  by  the 
connivance  of  the  Samaritans  with  Herod  the  Great  before 
his  accession  to  the  Jewish  throne,  by  the  favor  which  that 
prince  ever  showed  to  them,  by  their  willing  submission  to 
the  census  and  their  ready  adoption  of  Roman  usages,  and 
finally,  by  their  daring  violation  of  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem 
during  a  Paschal  festival.f 

§  2.  Religious  Condition. 

I.  The  Temple  of  Jerusalem.  The  great  centre  of 
the  religious  life  of  the  Jews  during  the  lifetime  of  Our 
Lord  was  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem.     Herod  had  rebuilt  it 

*  John  iv.  9.  f  Cfr.  Schurkr,  division  II.  vol.  ii.  pp.  4-46. 


76  OUTLINES    OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORYo 

on  its  original  site,  Mount  Moria,  east  of  the  Holy  City. 
He  had,  however,  considerably  enlarged  its  enclosure  to  the 
south  ;  and  it  is  very  probable  that  the  present  enclosure  of 
the  so-called  Mosque  of  Omar  represents  that  of  the 
Temple  as  enlarged  by  Herod  the  Great. 

When  we  think  of  the  Jewish  Temple,  our  impulse  is  to 
picture  to  ourselves  some  building  like  a  classical  temple  or 
a  great  cathedral.  But  the  first  effort  of  our  imagination 
should  be  to  picture  to  ourselves  a  system  of  structures,  one 
quadrangle  within  another,  the  second  standing  upon  higher 
ground  than  the  outermost,  and  the  Temple  proper  upon  a 
position  highest  of  all.  We  should  imagine  the  appearance 
of  a  wide  open  space  spoken  of  by  the  prophets  as  "  the 
COURT  OF  Jehovah's  house,"  while  *'  the  house  "  itself, 
or  Temple  proper,  was  erected  on  the  highest  of  a  series  of 
successive  terraces,  which  rose  in  an  isolated  mass  from  the 
centre  of  the  Court,  or  rather  nearer  to  its  northwestern 
corner.* 

The  Outer  Court — the  first  to  be  entered  when  approach- 
ing the  Sacred  Mount — was  called  "  the  Court  of  the  Gen- 
tiles," not  because  it  was  set  apart  for  them,  but  because 
Gentiles  rigorously  excluded  from  every  other  portion  of  the 
Temple  enclosures  were  permitted,  with  all  others,  to  enter 
there.  In  form  it  was  a  quadrangle,  surrounded  by  a  strong 
and  lofty  wall,  with  but  one  gate  to  the  east,  one  to  the 
north,  four  to  the  west,  and  two  to  the  south.  On  the  inner 
sides  of  this  wall  extended  porticoes  or  cloisters  of  white 
marble  Corinthian  columns  :  the  ceiling  was  flat  and  finished 
with  cedar.  On  three  sides  there  were  two  rows  of  columns, 
but  on  the  southern  side,  the  cloister  i^the  Royal  Porch) 
deepened  into  a  fourfold  colonnade,  and  its  axis  was  in  a 
straight  line  with  the  axis  of  the  colossal  bridge  which 
spanned  the  Tyropoeon  valley.  These  porticoes  or  porches 
around   the  Court  of  the  Gentiles  were  most   convenient 

*  CoNYBBARB  and  HowsoN,  St.  Paul,  chap.  xxi. 


SOCIAL    AND    RELIGIOUS   CONDITION    OF    THE    JEWS.       77 

places  for  friendly  or  religious  intercourse,  for  meetings  or 
discussions.*  The  open  court  was  paved  with  stones  of 
various  colors,  and  in  it  the  buyers  and  sellers  congregated. f 

From  near  the  middle  of  the  Court  of  the  Gentiles  arose 
the  series  of  enclosed  terraces,  on  the  summit  of  which  was 
the  Lord's  house.  This  more  sacred  ground  was  fenced  off 
by  low  balustrades  of  stone,  along  which,  at  regular  intervals, 
stood  pillars  with  inscriptions  in  Greek  and  Latin,  warning 
Gentiles  not  to  proceed  farther,  on  pain  of  death.  Besides 
this  barrier,  a  separation  was  formed  by  a  flight  of  fourteen 
steps  leading  up  to  a  platform  or  narrow  terrace,  beyond 
which  arose  the  wall  of  the  Inner  Court  with  its  four  gates 
to  the  north  and  to  the  south,  and  one  to  the  east. 

The  eastern  portion  of  this  second  quadrangle  or  Inner 
Court  was  called  the  Court  of  the  Women^  not  because  it  was 
set  apart  exclusively  for  their  use,  but  because  they  were  not 
allowed  to  advance  beyond  it.  This  court  covered  a  space 
of  more  than  200  feet  square,  and  its  eastern  gate — which 
formed  the  principal  entrance  into  the  Temple — was  the 
Beautiful  GateX  All  round  the  court  ran  a  simple  colon- 
nade, and  within  it  was  the  Treasury  ;  §  finally,  in  each  of 
its  four  corners  were  chambers,  one  of  which  was  for  the 
performance  of  the  vows  of  the  Nazarites.  || 

From  the  western  side  of  the  Court  of  the  Women  fifteen 
semicircular  steps  led  through  the  Gate  of  Nicanor  into  the 
narrow  Court  of  Israel^  reserved  for  the  men  who  had  ac* 
complished  certain  acts  of  purification.  Two  steps  led  up 
from  the  Court  of  Israel  to  the  Court  of  the  Priests^  with 
which  it  practically  formed  but  one  court,  divided  into  two 
by  a  low  balustrade  one  and  one-half  feet  high.  A  colon- 
nade ran  around  three  sides  of  the  Court  of  the  Priests; 
and  among  its  many  chambers  we  may  notice  the  hall 
Gazith^  the  meeting-place  of  the  Sanhedrim.    The  Court  of 

*  Cfr.  John  x.  23  sq.;  Acts  iii.  11.  t  Matt.  xxi.  12,  13  ;  John  ii.  13-17. 

X  Acts  iii.  2.  §  Luke  xxi.  i,  2. 

Q  Cfr.  Edbrshxim,  The  Temple,  its  Ministry  and  Services,  pp.  25-27. 


78  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

the  Priests  surrounded  the  Temple  proper,  and  contained 
the  great  Altar  of  Burnt-offerifigs,  together  with  the  appa- 
ratus required  for  its  service. 

The  House,  or  Temple  proper,  remains  to  be  described. 
Its  form  was  that  of  an  inverted  T  ( _i_ ),  and  it  was  divided 
into  three  parts:  the  Vestibule^  \\\t  Holy  Place ^  and  tht  Holy 
of  holies. 

The  Vestibule  was  reached  by  a  flight  of  twelve  steps, 
and  was  wider  than  the  rest  of  the  House  by  30  feet  on 
each  side.  Its  entrance  was  covered  by  a  splendid  veil, 
and  within  it  a  number  of  dedicated  gifts  were  kept. 
Folding  doors,  plated  with  gold  and  covered  by  a  rich  veil, 
formed  the  entrance  to  the  Holy  Place,  and  above  it  hung 
a  gigantic  vine  of  pure  gold,  a  beautiful  symbol  of  Israel. 
In  the  Holy  Place  were,  to  the  south,  the  golden  candle- 
stick, to  the  north  the  table  of  "  the  loaves  of  proposition," 
and  beyond  them  the  altar  of  incense,  near  to  the  entrance 
to  the  Holy  of  holies,  or  Most  Holy  Place.  The  latter  was 
now  entirely  empty,  a  large  stone,  on  which  the  high  priest 
sprinkled  the  blood  on  the  Day  of  Atonement,  occupying 
the  place  where  the  Ark  had  stood.  A  wooden  partition 
separated  the  Most  Holy  from  the  Holy  Place,  and  over 
the  door  hung  the  "  second  veil."  *  The  Holy  Place  was 
but  60  feet  long  from  east  to  west,  and  30  feet  wide; 
and  the  Holy  of  holies  was  30  feet  long  and  as  many 
wide.  On  three  sides  of  the  Temple  proper  there  were 
side  buildings  three  stories  high,  and  so  arranged  that  the 
Temple  proper  rose  above  them  like  a  clear-story  rising 
above  aisles,  and  bearing  aloft  a  gabled  cedar  roof  with 
golden  spikes  on  it,  and  surrounded  by  an  elegant  balus- 
trade.! 

At  the  northwestern  corner  of  the  Temple  enclosure 
stood  the  fortress  Antonia,  ever  reminding  the  Jewish 
worshippers  of  the  hated  Roman  yoke. 

*  Heb.  be.  3;  Matt,  xxvii.  51.  t  Edersheim,  The  Temple,  pp.  34-37* 


SOCIAL    AND    RELIGIOUS    CONDITION    OF    THE    JEWS.       79 

2.  The  Aaronitical  Priesthood.  The  persons  who 
had  charge  of  the  Temple,  and  a  large  number  of  whom  were 
always  in  residence,  were  the  priests,  whose  duty  k  was  to 
mediate  between  Jehovah  and  His  people.  They  formed  a 
sacred  order,  to  which  no  one  could  be  admitted  who  did  not 
belong  to  it  by  birth;  for  according  to  the  legislation  of  the 
Pentateuch,  "  the  sons  of  Aaron  "  were  alone  entitled  to 
the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  Jewish  priesthood.  Physi- 
cal defects,  however, — amounting  to  142  at  the  time  of  Our 
Lord, — disqualified  a  descendant  of  Aaron,  not  indeed  for 
the  priestly  or^/er,  but  for  the  exercise  of  its  functions.  So 
that,  before  being  selected  for  the  discharge  of  the  sacred 
duties  of  the  priesthood,  a  man  had  to  prove  (i)  that  he 
was  a  legitimate  descendant  of  Aaron,  and  (2)  that  he  was 
exempt  from  all  disqualifying  bodily  blemishes. 

If  a  young  man  had  duly  established  this  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  the  Sanhedrim,  he  was  set  apart  for  the  priestly 
ministry  by  a  special  consecration,  which  originally  lasted 
seven  days,  and  consisted  in  sacrifices,  purifications,  the 
putting  on  of  the  holy  garments,  the  sprinkling  of  blood, 
and  anointing  with  oil.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  the 
anointing  with  oil  was  no  longer  in  use  in  Our  Lord's  time. 

For  the  service  of  the  Temple,  the  numerous  descend- 
ants of  Aaron  had  been  divided  by  David  into  twenty-four 
courses,  which  would  officiate  in  regular  succession,  chang- 
ing every  Sabbath,  so  that  each  course  would  be  in  attend- 
ance at  the  sanctuary  at  least  twice  a  year.  It  is  true  that 
only  four  of  these  courses  came  back  from  the  Exile,  but 
they  were  divided  afresh  into  twenty-four  courses,  each  of 
which  formed  a  distinct  body,  with  presidents  and  elders  at 
its  head.  After  the  return,  the  number  of  priests  rapidly 
increased  in  the  Holy  Land:  and  yet,  however  numerous, 
they  must  have  been  comfortably  provided  for.  They  had 
a  considerable  share  in  the  victims  which  the  Jews  of  all 
nations  offered  in  sacrifice  in  the  Holy  City;  and  even  inde- 


8o  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

pendently  of  these  sacrifices,  dues  of  various  kinds  were 
paid  to  them,  such  as  first  fruits,  tithes  of  the  products  of 
the  ground,  the  redemption  money  for  the  first-born  of  man 
and  beast,  etc. 

Although  in  some  cases  the  priests  exercised  judicial 
functions,  and  were  in  charge  to  preserve  and  expound  the 
Law,  their  duties  were  mainly  sacrificial.  They  had  to  pre- 
pare and  offer  the  daily,  weekly,  and  monthly  sacrifices, 
and  such  as  were  brought  by  individuals  at  the  great  festi- 
vals or  on  special  occasions,  and  in  general  they  conducted 
the  public  service  of  the  sanctuary. 

At  the  head  of  the  whole  Jewish  priesthood  was  the 
high  priest.  He  was  to  be  a  person  especially  sacred, 
hence  any  bodily  imperfection  or  blemish  excluded  him 
from  the  office.  There  were,  besides,  other  disqualifica- 
tions, such  as  illegitimacy,  idolatry,  etc.  Under  the  Ro- 
mans this  office  was  too  often  entrusted  to  persons  who 
had  neither  age  nor  learning  nor  rank  to  recommend  them. 

The  services  of  the  consecration,  which  originally  lasted 
seven  days,  consisted  in  sacrifices,  anointing  with  oil,  and 
putting  on  of  the  sacred  garments.  But  in  Our  Lord's 
time  the  anointing  had  long  ceased  to  be  in  use,  and  a 
simple  investiture  was  gone  through,  together  with  the  of- 
fering of  the  sacrifices.  We  have  already  noticed  that 
under  the  Roman  domination  the  high  priests  had  become 
mere  puppets  in  the  hands  of  the  Roman  procurators,  and 
that  Gratus  and  Pontius  Pilate  were  famous  for  the  rapid 
deposition  and  substitution  of  high  priests  which  they 
effected. 

And  yet  the  position  of  the  high  priest  combined  in  one 
and  the  same  person  both  a  civil  and  a  sacred  dignity.  To 
him  alone  belonged  the  right  to  officiate  on  the  great  day 
of  Atonement.  He  alone  could  enter  the  Most  Holy 
Place;  he  was  also  the  supreme  administrator  of  sacred 
things  and  the  final  arbiter  of  all  religious  controversies. 


SOCIAL    AND    RELIGIOUS   CONDITION    OF    THE   JEWS.      8 1 

At  the  same  time  he  presided  over  the  Sanhedrim;  and  in 
all  political  matters  he  was  the  supreme  representative  of 
the  Jews  in  their  relations  with  the  Romans.* 

3.  The  Synagogues.  During  the  captivity  of  Babylon 
the  sacrificial  services  of  the  Temple  were,  of  course,  dis- 
continued ;  hence,  it  is  most  likely  to  this  period  that  we 
must  ascribe  the  origin  of  a  religious  institution  which  at 
the  return  of  the  Jews  was  transplanted  into  Palestine,  and 
which  in  Our  Lord's  time  was  spread  everywhere,  viz.,  the 
institution  of  the  synagogues.  No  sacrifices  could  be  offered 
in  these  meeting-places  ;  but  public  prayers  were  put  up, 
and  Holy  Writ  was  read  and  practically  expounded.  The 
synagogues  often  consisted  of  two  apartments :  one  for 
prayer,  preaching,  and  public  worship  ;  the  other  for  the 
meetings  of  learned  men,  for  discussions  concerning  ques- 
tions of  religion  and  discipline,  and  for  purposes  of  education. 

In  the  audience  chamber  of  a  synagogue  we  might  notice 
the  first  chairs  y  f  a  desk  for  the  reader  ;  a  chest  in  which 
the  rolls  of  the  Sacred  Book  were  preserved  ;  and  perhaps 
some  lamps  for  use  at  the  evening  worship.  Over  every 
synagogue  there  was  a  ruler  X  whose  duty  it  was  to  attend 
to  the  external  affairs  of  the  synagogue,  and  to  maintain 
order  in  the  meetings.  Elders%  were  associated  with  him 
in  the  management ;  while  the  inferior  duties  connected 
with  the  synagogue  were  discharged  by  servants  or  minister s\ 

The  rulers  of  the  synagogue  had  the  power  to  inflict 
excommunication  or  exclusion  from  the  synagogue,  a  most 
important  act  of  religious  discipline,  whereby  those  under 
excommunication  were  looked  upon  as  no  better  than  the 
heathen.1 

4.  The  Scribes.  The  chief  interpreters  of  Holy  Writ 
in  the  synagogues  were  the  Scribes^  who,  far  more  than  the 

♦  See  ScHPRER,  division  II.,  vol.  i.,  pp.  195-299.  t  Matt,  xxiii.  6. 

X  Mark  v.  35.  §  Lukk  vii.  3  ;  Mark  v.  22. 

H  LuKB  iv.  20.  ^  John  ix  22 ;  xii.  42 ;  Lukk  vi.  2  ;  Matt,  xviii.  17. 


82  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

priests,  guided  and  shaped  the  religious  life  of  the  people 
at  large.  They  belonged  to  different  tribes  and  families, 
and  also  to  different  sects,  although  most  of  them,  while 
being  Scribes  by  office,  were  Pharisees  by  religious  and 
political  profession.  In  the  time  of  Our  Lord  they  were 
spread  everywhere,  and  because  of  their  special  skill  in  the 
Law  and  in  the  other  Sacred  Writings,  they  were  reputed 
as  men  of  great  learning.  They  loved  the  title  of  Rabbi^ 
and  required  the  greatest  honors  not  only  from  their  pupils, 
but  also  from  the  public  at  large. 

By  their  theoretical  and  practical  interpretation  of  Holy 
Writ  they  had  gradually  laid  a  most  heavy  burden  upon  the 
people,  for  it  was  their  aim  to  apply  the  Law  to  all  imagin- 
able circumstances  of  daily  life,  and  their  work  in  that 
direction  was  characterized  by  slavery  to  the  letter,  and  by 
subtle  casuistry.  Moreover,  through  their  great  attachment 
for  the  "  traditions  of  the  elders,"  they  had  gone  so  far  as 
to  "  make  void  the  commandment  of  God,"  \  and  to  teach 
the  people  to  neglect  some  of  the  most  fundamental  princi- 
ples of  the  moral  law.J 

The  origin  of  the  divine  authority  they  ascribed  to  these 
traditions  is  to  be  referred  to  their  theory  that  Moses  him- 
self had  delivered  to  Israel  an  oral  Law  together  with  the 
written  Law.  This  oral  Law  was  as  old  as  the  Pentateuch, 
and  had  come  down  in  an  authentic  form,  through  the 
prophets  to  Esdras,  the  first  and  greatest  of  the  Scribes. 
Hence  they  inferred  that  the  whole  Law,  written  and  oral, 
was  of  equal  practical  authority.  Through  this  conception 
of  a  traditional  law  the  Scribes  were  led  into  many  a 
departure  from  the  spirit  of  the  written  Word,  §  and  indeed 
were  betrayed  into  looking  upon  all  their  traditional  customs 
and  interpretations — however  recent — as  no  less  authorita- 
tive than  the  revealed  precepts  of  the  Law. 

*  Matt,  xxiii.  6,  7.  f  Mark  vii.  a-23. 

X  Matt.  xii.  1-6;  xv.  1-20;  xxiii-  8  Makk  vii,  ifc. 


SOCIAL    AND    RELIGIOUS    CONDITION    OF    THE    JEWS.       83 

5.  The  Sanhedrim.  It  was  in  one  of  the  halls  of  the 
Temple  that,  up  to  about  a.d.  30,  the  Sanhedri?n^  or  highest 
council  of  the  Jews,  made  up  of  chief  priests,  elders,  and 
Scribes,  met  under  the  presidency  of  the  high  priests.  Its 
origin  is  unknown  ;  ana  the  view  of  the  Jewish  rabbis  which 
identifies  the  Sanhedrim  with  the  council  of  seventy  elders 
on  whom  the  Holy  Spirit  was  poured  to  assist  Moses  in  the 
administration  of  justice,  is  without  serious  grounds.  This 
supreme  tribunal  of  the  Jews  counted  seventy-one  members 
of  pure  Israelite  descent  and  was  governed  by  a  president 
and  two  vice-presidents  ;  besides,  there  were  secretaries 
and  other  officers. 

During  Our  Lord's  lifetime  the  power  of  the  Sanhedrim 
extended  to  matters  of  the  greatest  importance.  Among 
others,  we  may  notice  that  it  superintended  the  ritual  of 
public  worship,  regulated  the  Jewish  calendar,  enforced  the 
exact  fulfilment  of  the  Law,  punished  false  prophets,  and 
even  exercised  judicial  control  over  the  high  priests.  How- 
ever, its  privilege  of  carrying  into  effect  a  sentence  of  death 
it  had  pronounced  had  been  taken  from  the  Sanhedrim  and 
reserved  to  the  Roman  procurator.  The  supreme  authority 
of  the  decrees  of  the  Sanhedrim  was  acknowledged  by  all 
the  Jews  dispersed  throughout  the  world. 


SYNOPSIS   OF   CHAPTER   VII. 
The  Public  Work  of  Christ. 


Its 
Difficulties: 


1.  National    Susceptibilities   (Romans,    Samari- 

tans, Jews). 

2.  Narrowness  or  Fears  of  Jewish  Bodies  and 

Authorities. 

3.  Popular   Mistaken    Notions    concerning  the 

Messias. 


II. 

Its  Means: 


I.    Prudence 
of 
Action: 


Never  a  collision  with  Roman 
power. 

Action  in  perfect  harmony  with 
the  distinction  between  the  au- 
thority and  the  personal  life  of 
the  Jewish  authorities. 

r  Removal     of     popular 
^      ,      ,\      prejudices. 
ijraauai<  disclosure  of  what  He 

[     is  and  purposes. 


2.  Power  of  Words  (Chief  Characteristics  of  His 

Public  Discourses). 

3.  Miracles   (Perfect  Mastery  over  all   Nature, 

invoked  as  a  Proof  of  His  Statements). 


III. 

Its  Length: 


Various    Theories    held     successively    through 
Ages  :  Opinion  now  Prevalent. 

{The  Synoptists  mention  only  one 
Pasch — but  imply  a  second  one. 
St.  John  speaks  certainly  of  three 
Paschs — probably  of  a  fourth. 

Conclusions    certain   or   simply   probable    con- 
cerning that  question. 

84 


SECOND  PERIOD: 

OUR  LORD'S  PUBLIC  MINISTRY. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    PUBLIC    WORK    OF   CHRIST. 

I.  The  Difficulties  of  Our  Lord's  Work.  The  social 
and  religious  condition  of  the  Jews  in  Our  Lord's  day — 
which  we  have  briefly  described  in  the  foregoing  chapter — 
naturally  created  many  difficulties  against  the  acceptance  of 
His  teachings. 

One  of  these  difficulties  arose  from  the  national  antipa- 
thies and  susceptibilities  of  Our  Lord's  contemporaries.  The 
Romans  despised,  it  is  true,  the  Jewish  nation  and  thought 
they  could  easily  quell  any  revolt  against  their  domina- 
tion ;  yet  they  were  naturally  jealous  of  their  authority,  and 
would  certainly  resent  Christ's  open  assumption  of  the  title 
of  the  Messias  and  His  preaching  of  a  new  kingdom,  for  both 
could  easily  lead  the  Jewish  multitudes  to  new  uprisings 
against  the  hated  power  of  Rome.  Again,  the  Samaritans 
and  the  Jews  were  no  less  at  variance  between  themselves 
than  the  Romans  and  the  Jews  ;  hence,  any  special  favor 
shown  by  Jesus  to  the  members  of  either  community  would 
certainly  tell  against  the  influence  of  His  words  and  mira- 
cles upon  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  other. 

A  second  and  greater  difficulty  to  Our  Lord's  work  was  to 

85 


S6  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

be  found  in  the  narrowness  or  the  fears  of  the  Jewish  leaders. 
To  be  welcome  as  a  teacher  to  the  Scribes  and  the  Pharisees 
of  His  time,  Jesus  should  have  belonged  to  the  learned  class 
of  the  "  Masters  in  Israel,"  *  and  like  them  He  should  have 
pledged  Himself  to  uphold  all  the  "  traditions  of  the  elders  "  ; 
but  more  particularly,  He  should  have  felt  bound  to  comply 
with  the  rules  of  the  Scribes  and  the  Pharisees,  since  "  all  the 
Jews  "  f — even  the  Sadducees — carried  them  out  faithfully; 
and  the  Gospel  records  prove  that  to  be  faithful  to  His  mis- 
sion, Our  Lord  had  to  set  all  these  traditions  aside  and  to 
unmask  fearlessly  the  pride  and  hypocrisy  of  this  the  most 
influential  of  the  Jewish  sects.  The  Sadducees  were  no  less 
opposed  to  the  work  of  Our  Lord  than  the  Pharisees.  His 
doctrine  was  in  direct  contradiction  in  several  points  to  that 
of  the  Sadducees,  and  His  public  mission  appeared  to  whem 
most  objectionable.  On  the  one  hand,  these  cautious  poli- 
ticians saw  that  the  multitudes  were  more  and  more  won  to 
His  cause,  and  feared  lest  they  would  ultimately  crown  Him 
King  and  rebel  against  Rome  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  they 
were  fully  persuaded  that  Jesus  had  not  at  His  disposal  the 
forces  necessary  to  cope  successfully  with  the  Roman 
legions.  These  various  elements  of  opposition  to  Our 
Lord's  work  were  all  represented  in  the  Sanhedrim,  and 
their  ultimate  combination  against  His  work  and  His  life 
led  to  His  trial  and  to  His  execution. 

It  must  be  said,  however,  that  the  greatest  difficulty  our 
divine  Lord  had  to  contend  with  in  the  discharge  of  His 
public  mission  arose  from  the  mistaken  notions  concerning 
the  Messias,  which  were  so  prevalent  in  the  minds  of  His 
contemporaries.  As  we  have  seen  in  Chapter  II.,  the  Jew- 
ish expectations  respecting  the  person  and  work  of  the 
Messias,  the  nature  and  conditions  of  the  Messianic  king- 
dom, ran  directly  counter  to  what  the  Redeemer  of  the 
world  had  to  be  and  to  establish  upon  earth. 

*  John  iii.  lo.  -t  Mask  vii.  3. 


THE   PUBLIC    WORK    OF    CHRIST,  87 

2.  The  Means  used  by  Our  Lord  in  His  Public 
Work.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  features  of  the  con- 
duct of  Our  Lord  during  His  public  ministry  is  His  pru- 
dence of  action.  During  His  entire  public  work  we  find  no 
trace  of  the  least  collision  with  the  Roman  power.  He 
usually  moves  in  Galilee,  far  from  immediate  contact  with 
the  Roman  officials,  avoids  assuming  the  Messianic  title, 
never  shows  the  least  desire  for  the  royal  dignity,  and  when 
pressed  by  His  enemies  to  declare  whether  it  is  lawful  to 
pay  the  tribute  to  Caesar  or  not.  He  answers  in  a  manner 
which  had  to  be  distorted  in  order  that  it  might  be  brought 
against  Him  at  the  time  of  His  passion. 

Our  Lord  did  not  act  with  less  prudence  in  His  relations 
with  the  Jewish  authorities.  Here,  however,  the  avoidance 
of  a  collision  was  an  impossibility.  His  mission  of  Saviour 
of  souls  required  that  He  should  unmask  His  opponents  to 
the  people  and  contend  openly  with  them,  and  this  He  did 
repeatedly,  with  a  severity  proportionate  to  the  ardor  of  His 
zeal.  But  outside  these  cases  He  acted  towards  them  with 
the  utmost  kindness.  Indeed,  it  may  be  said  that  His  con- 
duct was  ever  in  perfect  harmony  with  this  most  wise  dis- 
tinction between  the  authority  and  the  person  of  the  Jewish 
leaders  :  "  All  whatsoever  they  shall  say  to  you,  observe  and 
do  ;  but  according  to  their  works  do  ye  not."  * 

It  is  in  the  same  prudent  way  that  Jesus  did  not  go  at 
once  against  the  mistaken  Messianic  notions  of  the  people, 
or  even  of  His  chosen  disciples.  He  knew  that  inveterate 
prejudices  must  not  be  handled  roughly,  and  that  a  gradual 
light  is  not  only  more  welcome,  but  also  more  effective. 
Hence  He  suggested  in  various  ways,  but  especially  through 
striking  parables,  the  truths  regarding  the  nature  of  the 
kingdom  of  God,  its  growth,  conditions  of  entrance,  etc., 
which  He  could  not  have  disclosed  openly  without  hurting 
uselessly  the  most  cherished  hopes  of  His  contemporaries. 

♦Matt,  xxiii.  3 


88  OUTLINES    OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

And  it  is  only  towards  the  close  of  His  work  that  He  fully 
disclosed  His  equality  with  the  Father  and  His  true  rela- 
tions to  the  Jews  and  to  the  world. 

A  second  means  which  Our  Lord  employed  for  the  fulfil- 
ment of  His  mission  is  the  wonderful  power  of  His  words. 
His  discourses  are  a  spirit,  an  impulse,  a  direction,  not  a 
series  of  abstract,  dry  enactments,  so  that  every  one  of  His 
hearers  could  at  once  feel  their  importance  and  their  beauty. 
They  are  also  characterized  by  great  originality,  for  even 
when  He  took  up  the  religious  truths  of  the  Old  Testament 
revelation.  He  divested  them  of  their  grosser  interpretations 
and  gave  them  a  spiritual  meaning  hitherto  unsuspected. 
In  opposition  to  the  method  of  the  Scribes,  the  teachers  of 
the  time,  "  He  spoke  with  authority,"  never  repeating  the 
opinions  of  interpreters  before  Him,  never  sustaining  a 
statement  by  the  authority  of  some  master.  Seldom  He  dis- 
cussed with  His  hearers,  but  when  controversy  was  engaged, 
either  with  the  Pharisees  or  the  Sadducees,  He  ever  and 
easily  remained  victorious.  So  great,  indeed,  was  the  power 
of  His  words,  that  the  multitudes,  in  their  eagerness  to  hear 
Him,  pressed  upon  Him  in  great  numbers,  and  followed 
Him  everywhere,  forgetful  of  the  very  necessaries  of  life. 

The  miracles  which  our  divine  Lord  performed  were, 
however,  the  very  powerful  means  by  which  He  won  the 
admiration,  gratitude,  and  authority  necessary  to  cope  suc- 
cessfully with  the  opposition  of  the  Jewish  leaders.  He 
multiplied  these  wonders  at  each  step,  and  they  were  such 
as  no  man  had  wrought  before  Him.  All  the  elements  of 
nature,  all  the  diseases  of  the  body,  life  and  death,  and  even 
invisible  spirits  felt  the  effects  of  His  divine  power.  A 
simple  touch,  a  single  word  was  sufficient  to  exercise  this 
power  over  the  most  inveterate  diseases,  and  even  His  pres- 
ence was  not  necessary  for  the  performance  of  such  won- 
ders. The  most  hidden  thoughts  of  His  hearers,  as  well  as 
the  most  remote  events,  were  equally  known  to  Him.     Not 


THE   PUBLIC    WORK    OF   CHRIST.  89 

only  did  He  perform  miracles  Himself,  but  on  different 
occasions  He  imparted  a  similar  power  to  His  messengers. 
It  was,  therefore,  plain  to  His  contemporaries  that  He  was 
endowed  with  a  perfect  mastery  over  all  creatures.  The 
multitudes  instinctively  felt  that  the  coming  Messias  could 
not  be  expected  to  perform  greater  miracles,  and  were  led 
to  consider  Him  as  being  Himself  the  Messias  who,  as  they 
thought,  by  His  miraculous  power  was  to  drive  the  foreign- 
ers from  the  Holy  Land,  submit  the  Gentiles  to  the  Jews, 
and  start  a  new  era  of  material  and  religious  prosperity. 
Only  blind  leaders,  who  wilfully  blasphemed  against  the 
Holy  Spirit,  could  ascribe  such  beneficent  works  to  the 
agency  of  the  Evil  One.  Finally,  Our  Lord  Himself  repeat- 
edly appeals  to  His  works  as  clear  proofs  of  His  divine  mis- 
sion and  superhuman  power. 

3.  Length  of  Our  Lord's  Public  Work.  The  min- 
istry of  Our  Lord  includes,  indeed,  the  period  between  His 
baptism  and  His  ascension  ;  but  how  long  this  period  was, 
is  a  question  which  has  ever  been  debated  in  the  Church. 

During  the  first  three  centuries  the  prevalent  opinion  was 
that  the  ministry  of  Christ  lasted  not  more  than  a  year  and 
a  few  months,  and  included  only  two  Paschal  celebrations, 
viz.,  that  which  followed  soon  on  His  baptism,  and  that 
which  immediately  preceded  His  crucifixion.  Some  writers, 
however,  during  the  third  and  following  centuries,  regarded 
Our  Lord's  ministry  as  including  three  Paschal  festivals. 
Eusebius,  who  wrote  in  the  first  part  of  the  fourth  century, 
was  the  first  who  represented  the  ministry  of  Christ  as  in- 
cluding four  Passovers  ;  his  opinion  did  not  prevail  at  once, 
for  during  the  latter  part  of  the  fourth  century  several 
Church  writers,  among  whom  was  St.  Augustine  still,  re- 
tained the  ancient  opinion,  viz.,  that  it  included  two  Pass- 
overs only.  Subsequently,  however,  and  up  to  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  view  of  Eusebius  was  re- 
ceived without  misgiving,   and  at  the  present  day  it  is  by 


9©  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY, 

far  the  most  prevalent  among  biblical  scholars  ;  it  maintains 
that  the  public  ministry  of  Our  Lord  lasted  three  years  and 
a  few  months,  and  that  it  included  four  Paschal  celebra- 
tions.* 

If  we  consult  the  Gospel  records  we  shall  find  that  none 
of  the  Evangelists  states  explicitly  either  the  exact  duration 
of  Our  Lord's  ministry  or  the  number  of  Passovers  included 
within  the  period  between  His  baptism  and  His  ascension. 
Again,  we  may  notice  that  the  Synopttsts  mention  only  one 
Pasch,  namely,  the  last  one  He  celebrated  in  Jerusalem  be- 
fore His  death,  while  they  incidentally  refer  to  facts  which 
clearly  imply  another  Paschal  festival  as  having  occurred 
during  Our  Lord's  public  ministry.f  Finally,  we  find  that 
St.  John  speaks  certainly  of  three  Passovers,!  and  probably 
of  a  fourth  one  in  Chapter  v.  i.  In  the  last  passage 
just  referred  to,  the  fourth  Evangelist  tells  us  that  "  there 
was  a  festival  of  the  Jews  and  Jesus  went  up  to  Jerusalem." 
Now  it  can  be  shown  with  great  probability  that  this  "  fes- 
tival of  the  Jews  "  was  first  of  all,  distinct  from  either  of 
the  Passovers  spoken  of  in  Chapter  ii.  13,  and  in  Chapter 
vi.  4,  and  next,  from  either  the  feast  of  Pentecost  or  that  of 
Tabernacles. § 

We  therefore  conclude  that  while  it  is  beyond  doubt  that 
Our  Lord's  ministry  included  at  least  three  Paschal  celebra- 
tions, it  is  very  probable  that  it  included  a  fourth  Passover, 
and  that  consequently  the  entire  duration  of  the  public  work 
of  Jesus  extended  to  three  years  and  a  few  months. 

*  Cfr.  Carpenter,  Harmony  of  the  Gospels,  dissertation  I.  pp.  xiii.-xx. 

t  Cfr.  Matt.  xii.  i;  Luke  vi.  i;  Mark  ii.  23,  compared  with  Mark  vi.  39;  vi,  56- 
•.-,  52.  See  also  Hastings,  Bible  Dictionary,  art.  Chronology  of  the  New  Testament, 
p.  406. 

t  John  ii.  13;  vi.  4  ;  xi.  55;  xiii.  i. 

§  ViGOUROux  et  Bacuez,  Manuel  Biblique,  vol.  iii.,  n.  142.  Smith,  Bible  Dictionary; 
art.  Jesus  Christ,  p.  1359.    Andrews,  Life  of  Our  Lord,  pp.  189-198. 


SYNOPSIS   OF   CHAPTER   VIII. 
The  Early  Days  of  Christ's  Public  Ministry. 


I. 

Immediate 

Preparation 

FOR  Public 

Ministry: 


f  Time  and  place. 
I.  The  Preach-     Nature  (essentially  a  prcpara- 
ing      oi-{      tion    for   the   coming    of   the 
St.  John:  |       Messias). 

(^  Influence  (extent  and  reasons). 


The  Bap- 
tism of 
Our  Lord: 


The    Temp- 
tation: 


The   baptism    administered   by 

John  (where  and  why  received 

by  Jesus  ?) 
How   was  Jesus  manifested  to 

John? 
Date   of    the    baptism  :    Jesus 

"  about     the    age    of    thirty 

years." 

Where  and  why  undergone  by 

our  divine  Lord  ? 
Duration  and  nature. 


II. 

Beginning  of 

Public 

Ministry: 


The  First 
Five  Dis- 
ciples: 


The     First 
Miracle: 


Their    names,  places  of  birth, 

and  station  in  life. 
When     and     how     brought     to 

Jesus  ? 
First  relations  with  Our  Lord. 


The  Titles 
Given  to 
Jesus: 


The  Lamb  of  God. 
The    Son    of    God, 
the  King  of  Israel. 
The  Son  of  Man. 


The    Occasion  :   A  wedding    at 
Cana  of  Galilee. 


The 
Miracle: 


'  The  request  of  Mary: 

Its  motives. 
The  answer  of  Jesus- 
The  change  of  watei 
into  wine. 


91 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    EARLY   DAYS    OF   CHRISt's    PUBLIC    MINISTRY. 

§  I.   The  Immediate  Preparation  for  Public  Ministry, 

I.  The  Preaching  of  St.  John.  Our  Lord  was  soon 
to  commence  His  public  life,  when  John,  the  son  of  Zachary, 
was  directed  by  heaven  to  begin  his  mission  of  precursor.  St. 
Luke  tells  us  that  this  happened  "  in  the  fifteenth  year  of 
Tiberius  Caesar."*  This  "fifteenth  year  "  is  most  likely 
to  be  reckoned  from  the  time  when  this  prince  was  as- 
sociated with  Augustus  in  the  government  of  the  empire,  and 
consequently,  it  corresponds  to  the  year  779  u.c.  (a.d.  26). 
That  it  was  a  Sabbatical  year  is  regarded  as  probable  by 
some  authors,  who  explain  in  this  manner  how  the  people 
could  flock  to  John  in  great  numbers  and  from  all  parts  of 
the  land.  \ 

Long  years  before  this  moment  '*  of  his  manifestation  in 
Israel,"  the  son  of  Zachary  had  lived  in  the  Wilderness, 
or  eastern  portion  of  Judaea  proper.J  In  this  desolate 
region,  some  9  or  10  miles  in  width,  by  about  35  in  length, 
he  had  taken  his  abode,  most  likely  in  some  cave  in  the 
depth  of  a  gorge  to  shelter  himself  from  the  glare  of  an 
Eastern  sun.  His  food  had  consisted  of  locusts  which 
leaped  and  flew  on  the  bare  hills,  and  of  wild  honey  which 
the  bees  deposited  in  the  clefts  of  the  rocks.  Thus,  far  from 

*  Luke  iii.  i,  2. 

t  Matt.  iii.  5.     See  Fouard,  i.,  p.  96;  Andrews,  pp.  23-29;  145,  146;  Wibsbler 
Chronological  Synopsis,  p.  184  sq. 
X  Luke  i.  80. 

92 


EARLY    DAYS   OF   CHRIST'S    PUBLIC    MINISTRY.  93 

a  corrupt  world,  in  silence  and  prayer,  he  had  slowly  pre- 
pared himself  for  his  difficult  mission,  and  he  now  stood 
before  all,  a  living  example  of  sincerity  and  disinterested- 
ness. 

The  holy  precursor  began  his  instructions  in  the  wilder- 
ness of  Judaea,  *  and  then  he  moved  northward,  apparently 
following  the  course  of  the  Jordan. f  He  announced  the 
near  coming  of  the  Messias  and  of  His  kingdom,  and  bade 
his  hearers  prepare  for  this  most  important  event  by  genuine 
sorrow  for  sin  and  a  true  change  of  life.  His  words  went 
directly  against  one  of  the  most  mischievous  errors  of  his 
contemporaries,  who  felt  sure  of  a  place  in  the  kingdom  of 
the  Messias  simply  because  of  their  descendance  from 
Abraham  and  of  their  scrupulous,  though  soulless,  discharge 
of  outward  practices  of  penance  and  religion.  His  language 
assumed  a  particularly  severe  tone  when  addressed  to  the 
Pharisees  and  the  Sadducees,  whom  he  called  "  offspring  of 
vipers  "  because  of  their  hypocrisy,  which  turned  religion 
itself  into  a  vice  and  hid  a  deadly  malice  under  the  appear- 
ance of  zeal.  As  a  body,  these  Jewish  leaders  rejected  His 
exhortations  to  repentance  and  moral  reform,  and  were  far 
from  desiring  the  baptism  which  John  administered  to  the 
humble  and  truly  repentant  multitudes.^ 

The  fame  of  the  new  prophet  spread  rapidly,  and  as  St. 
Matthew  informs  us,  "  Jerusalem  and  all  Judaea  and  all  the 
country  about  Jordan  went  out  to  him."§  Even  the  most 
unspiritual  elements  of  society,  such  as  the  publicans  and 
the  soldiers,  felt  deeply  the  influence  of  his  preaching  and 
were  willing  to  follow  his  counsels.!  Very  soon  the  ministry 
of  the  precursor  caused  so  general  an  excitement  and  so  lively 
an  expectation  that  "  all  were  thinking  in  their  hearts  of 
John,  that  perhaps  he  might  be  the  Christ."!" 

*  Matt.  iii.  i.  t  Luke  iii.  3. 

t  Matt.  iii.  2,  5-1*  ;  Mark  i.  4-8 ;  Luke  iii.  3,  7-9 ;  Matt.  xxi.  28-32. 

§  Matt.  iiL  5.  ||  Luifs  iii.  ia-14.  H  Lukk  iii.  15. 


94  Outlines  of  new  testament  history. 

When  we  inquire  into  the  causes  of  an  influence  so  wide- 
spread and  so  considerable,  we  find  that  they  were  chiefly 
three  :  (i)  the  personal  appearance  of  John,  which  was  in 
striking  contrast  with  that  of  the  teachers  of  the  time  and 
forcibly  reminded  the  multitudes  of  the  ancient  prophet 
Elias  ;  *  (2)  the  character  of  his  preaching,  so  earnest  in 
its  tone,  so  striking  in  its  images,  so  disinterested  in  its  mo- 
tives, so  practical  in  its  bearing,  so  perfectly  in  harmony 
with  his  own  life  ;  (3)  the  expectation  of  the  Messias,  which 
was  more  than  ever  prevalent  among,  and  dear  to,  the  multi- 
tudes, and  which  the  very  preaching  of  John  had  rendered 
more  lively  and  more  certain. 

2.  The  Baptism  of  Our  Lord.f  From  the  summary 
accounts  which  the  Gospels  give  us  of  the  preaching  of  St. 
John,  we  easily  gather  that  the  burden  of  his  teachings  was 
the  necessity,  even  for  the  Jews,  to  prepare  for  the  Mes- 
sianic kingdom  by  a  hearty  renunciation  of  sin  and  a  real 
amendment  of  life.  And  it  is  this  necessity  which  he  sym- 
bolized by  administering  to  the  multitudes  a  baptism  hitherto 
required  only  from  proselytes  to  Judaism.  He  had  been  sent 
to  baptize  with  water,;!  and  his  baptism  shared  in  the  pre- 
paratory character  of  his  entire  mission,  inasmuch  as  it 
taught  the  Jews  the  true  frame  of  mind  in  which  they  should 
receive  *'  the  baptism  with  the  Holy  Ghost,"  which  wag 
reserved  to  Him  whom  John  announced. 

St.  John  had  been  baptizing  for  some  time  when  Jesus, 
leaving  Nazareth,  "  went  to  the  Jordan  "  to  be  baptized  by 
the  holy  precursor.  The  precise  place  of  Our  Lord's  bap- 
tism is  not  indicated  in  the  Gospel  narrative,  and  remains 
doubtful  down  to  the  present  day,  St.  John  having  baptized 
the  multitudes  at  different  points  of  the  river.  The  most 
common  opinion,  however,  is  that  Jesus  was  baptized  on  the 
lower  Jordan,  near  Jericho,  at  a  place  named  Bethany.§ 

*  4  Kings  i.  7,  8.  t  Matt.  Hi.  13-17 ;  Mark  i.  g-ii  ;  Luke  iii.  21-23. 

t  John i.  33.  §  Cfr.  John!.  28  ;  x.  40. 


EARLY    DAYS   OF    CHRIST'S    PUBLIC    MINISTRY.  QjJ 

Ecclesiastical  writers  have  suggested  various  motives  why 
Jesus  submitted  to  a  rite  expressive  of  inward  repentance 
and  intended  reform.  The  motive  the  most  probable,  be- 
cause suggested  by  Our  Lord's  words  to  St.  John,*  is  that 
He  wished  thereby  to  comply  with  a  general  disposition  of 
divine  Providence,  that  He  should  not  be  exempt  during 
His  mortal  life  from  the  rites  enjoined  by  God  upon  the 
Jews  of  the  tirae.f 

It  has  been  affirmed  that  the  words  of  St.  John  by  which 
he  stayed  Jesus,  saying,  '*  I  ought  to  be  baptized  by  Thee, 
and  comest  Thou  to  me  ? "  implied  a  previous  and  personal 
acquaintance  of  the  precursor  with  Our  Lord.  But  such  an 
acquaintance  with  the  person  and  character  of  Jesus  is  by 
no  means  certain.  The  homes  of  John  and  Jesus  were  far 
removed,  and  the  sojourn  of  the  precursor  in  the  wilderness 
extended  to  the  very  moment  "  of  his  manifestation  in 
Israel."  We  must,  therefore,  consider  it  much  more  proba- 
ble that  John  had  never  seen  Jesus  before,|  and  that  he 
was  able  to  discern  His  exalted  character  only  through 
an  inward  inspiration.  Such  supernatural  discernment  of 
character  was  sometimes  given  to  the  prophets  of  old, 
and  it  should  be  remembered  that  this  same  precursor,  when 
yet  in  his  mother's  womb,  had  leaped  for  joy  at  the  saluta- 
tion of  the  mother  of  the  Lord.  Yet  it  was  not  till  St.  John 
had  seen  the  appointed  sign,  the  descent  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  that  he  could  bear  official  witness  to  the  Messianic 
dignity  of  Jesus.§  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
apparition  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  a  bodily  shape  "  as  a 
dove,"  was  seen  by  the  multitude.  Jesus  saw  it,||  and  John 
also,  whose  mission  it  was  to  bear  witness  to  others  that 
Jesus  "  is  the  Son  of  God  "  ^  and  apparently  no  one  else. 

St.  Luke  (iii.  23)  informs  us  that  Our  Lord  at  His  bap- 
ti«*ip  was  "  about  the  age  of  thirty  years,"  an  expression  the 

'  Bf  $.Tt.  m.  15.  tCfr.  Knabbnbaubr,  in  S.  Matthjeum,  i.  pp.  137,  138. 

■    ■'*^^m.%^  i John  i.  31-34.  II  Matt.  iii.  16.        If  John  i.,  31,  3a,  34. 


96  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

natural  meaning  of  which  is,  that  Jesus  was  some  months 
or  parts  of  a  year  more  or  less  than  thirty.  He  was  not  just 
thirty,  nor  twenty-nine,  nor  thirty-one  years  of  age.  Whence 
it  follows  that  Jesus,  born  in  December,  749  u.c,  was  bap- 
tized towards  the  end  of  779,  or  the  beginning  of  780  u.c. 
The  probabilities  are  in  favor  of  780  (a.d.  27). 

Now  the  first  Pasch  which  followed  Our  Lord's  baptism 
fell  upon  the  nth  of  April;  so  that  in  the  interval  between 
this  Pasch  and  His  baptism  we  must  place  various  events — 
the  forty  days'  temptation,  the  return  of  Jesus  to  Galilee, 
where  He  attended  the  wedding  at  Cana,  and  Our  Lord's 
few  days'  sojourn  in  Capharnaum  immediately  before  going 
up  to  Jerusalem — which  occupied  upwards  of  two  months. 
This  naturally  leads  us  to  look  for  the  traditional  month  of 
January  as  the  month  in  which  Jesus  was  baptized  in  the 
Jordan,  and  the  climatic  peculiarities  of  Palestine  offer  no 
valid  objections  to  this  month.* 

3.  The  Temptation.t  Immediately  after  His  baptism, 
Jesus  was  led  by  the  Spirit  into  the  wilderness  of  Judaea,  to 
be  tempted  by  the  Devil.  The  wild  aspect  of  this  place  has 
already  been  referred  to,  and  its  descriptions  by  travellers 
enable  us  to  realize  the  perfect  accuracy  of  St.  Mark's 
statement,  that  in  the  wilderness  the  Son  of  God  "  was 
WITH  BEASTS."!  Tradition  points  to  a  high  mountain 
a  little  west  of  Jericho  as  the  "  very  high  mountain  "  from 
which  the  Tempter  showed  Our  Lord  all  the  kingdoms  of 
the  world.  This  mountain,  a  limestone  peak,  exceedingly 
sharp  and  abrupt,  and  overlooking  the  plain  of  the  Jordan 
and  beyond,  has  been  called  the  quarantania,  in  allusion 
to  the  fast  of  forty  days. 

That  the  true  Son  of  God  should  have  been  tempted  by 
the  Evil  One  will  ever  remain  a  most  mysterious,  though 
most  certain,  event  in  the  history  of  mankind.    Nothing,  of 

•Andrews,  pp.  21-35.  tMATT.  iv.  i-ii;  Mark!,  it,  13;  LukbIv.  i-ij. 

t  Mark  i.  13. 


EARLY    DAYS    OF   CHRIST'S    PUBLIC    MINISTRY.  97 

course,  could  allure  to  sin  a  divine  person,  and  it  is  difficult 
to  understand  how  victory  over  temptation  could  secure 
merit  for  a  soul  which  could  not  sin.  Various  reasons,  how- 
ever, have  been  set  forth  to  explain  why  our  divine  Lord 
was  tually  tempted.  Thus,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews* we  are  told  that  in  Jesus  "  we  have  not  a  high 
priest,  who  cannot  have  compassion  on  our  infirmities;  but 
one  tempted  in  all  things  such  as  we  are  [yet]  without  sin."t 
Again,  it  has  been  said  that  the  second  Adam  suffered  this 
humiliation,  that  all  Adam's  sons  might  share  in  His  vic- 
tory; and  there  is  no  doubt  that  Christians  under  tempta- 
tion have  ever  found  in  the  pattern  of  their  tempted 
Saviour  both  an  instructive  example  and  a  great  source  of 
power  to  overcome  their  ghostly  enemy. 

If  we  had  only  the  narratives  of  St.  Matthew  and  St. 
Mark,  we  would  naturally  suppose  that  Our  Lord's  tempta- 
tion consisted  simply  in  the  three  assaults  which  St.  Mat- 
thew records  in  detail,  and  consequently  that  it  lasted  but 
a  short  time.  But  St.  Luke's  narrative  is  decisive,  to  the 
efifect  that  Jesus  was  actually  tempted  during  all  the  forty 
days  He  remained  in  the  wilderness,  and  that  it  was  at  the 
end  of  this  long  period  that  He  underwent  these  three  great 
assaults. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  detail  and  refute  here  the  various 
theories  invented  by  Protestants  and  Rationalists,  against 
what  ecclesiastical  tradition  has  ever  believed  to  have  been 
the  true  nature  of  the  Tempter,  and  of  his  three  final 
assaults  against  Our  Lord.  An  impartial  study  of  the  Gos- 
pel records  proves  beyond  all  doubt  that  the  Evangelists  in- 
tended to  describe  a  real  external  occurrence,  in  which  a 
personal  Tempter  appeared  to  Jesus  in  a  bodily  form,  spoke 
audible  words,  went  visibly  from  place  to  place,  and  finally 
departed.  It  is  clear,  furthermore,  that  Our  Lord,  having  no 
inordinate   inclination   towards   any  thing,   could    not    be 

•  Hbb.  iv.  15.  t  Cfr.  also  Hbb.  ii.  17, 


98  OUTLINES  OF   NEW   TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

tempted  to  deviate  from  His  appointed  path  of  duty  by  the 
inward  solicitations  of  appetite,  of  ambition  and  of  worldli- 
ness,  but  only  by  the  outward  suggestions  of  the  Evil  One. 
These  suggestions  appealed  to  the  threefold  concupiscence 
of  our  fallen  nature,  and  Satan  hoped  that  they  would  prove 
the  more  easily  successful  against  Jesus,  because  he  pre- 
sented them  when  Our  Lord's  physical  frame  had  been 
greatly  weakened  by  a  rigorous  and  prolonged  fast,  and  also 
because  in  using  them  he  simply  proposed  to  Jesus  to  act  as 
the  worldly  Messias  whom  the  Jews  expected.  But  Satan's 
hope  was  doomed  to  disappointment.  For  whether  ap- 
proached by  the  Tempter  in  the  wilderness,  or  led  by  him 
to  the  top  of  one  of  the  platforms  of  the  Temple's  enclos- 
ure, or  to  the  summit  of  a  high  mountain,  Jesus  never 
swerved  in  the  least  from  what  He  knew  to  be  the  divine 
will  in  His  regard.  He  met  promptly,  firmly,  all  the  sug- 
gestions of  Satan  by  direct  appeals  to  Holy  Writ — which 
St.  Paul  in  his  inspired  language  will  call  later  "  the  sword 
of  the  Spirit  "  * — and  finally  put  this  enemy  to  flight. 

The  direct,  and  as  it  were  personal,  conflict  between 
Jesus  and  Satan  was  over  till  the  time  of  Our  Lord's  igno- 
minious passion  and  death  ;  f  and  heavenly  spirits  came 
and  ministered  to  Jesus.  X 

§  2.   T/ie  Beginning  of  Public  Ministry. 

I.  The  First  Five  Disciples.§  The  opening  events 
of  Our  Lord's  public  life  are  recorded  only  by  the  beloved 
disciple,  who  had  been  a  witness  of  them  all.  He  pictures 
to  us  Jesus  attaching  to  Himself  His  first  five  disciples  : 
Andrew,  and  another  left  unnamed  in  the  Gospel  narrative, 
but  who  was  no  other  than  John,  the  modest  writer  of  the 

*Ephbs.  vi.  17.  t  LuKB  iv.  13  ;  xxii.  53. 

X  Matt.  iv.  11,  cfr.  Fouard,  i.,  p.  121  sq. ;  Dbhaut,  I'Evangilc  Expliqu^,  etc.,  vol 
l,  p.  485  sq.  (Paris,  1873)  ;  Filuon  ;  Godet,  and  other  commentators. 
§  John  i.  35-51. 


EARLY    DAYS   OF   CHRIST'S   PUBLIC    MINISTRY.  99 

Fourth  Gospel  ;  Simon  and  Philip  ;  and  finally  Nathanael, 
who  is  most  likely  identical  with  the  apostle  Bartholomew. 
They  were  all  Galileans  by  birth  ;  and  Andrew,  together 
with  Simon  and  Philip,*  and  probably  John,  f  were  of  Beth- 
saida,  on  the  western  shore  of  the  lake  of  Genesareth, 
while  Nathanael  was  of  Cana  in  Galilee.J  Tradition  repre- 
sents the  latter  as  of  nobler  birth  than  the  other  four,  who 
were  poor  fishermen,  although  the  father  of  St.  John  seems 
to  have  been  a  fisherman  of  some  means.  § 

The  exact  time  at  which  these  five  men  became  the  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus  cannot  be  determined.  It  was,  however,  not 
long  after  Our  Lord's  return  from  the  scene  of  the  Tempta- 
tion, and  when  His  holy  precursor  was  still  baptizing  at  Beth- 
any, and  had  just  given  a  public  testimony  to  Christ's  Mes- 
sianic character.il  St.  John  the  Baptist  was,  in  fact,  the  direct 
means  of  bringing  Andrew  and  John  to  Jesus,  by  pointing  to 
Him  as  "the  Lamb  of  God."!^  Both  were  soon  convinced 
that  they  had  indeed  "  found  the  Messias,"  **  and  they  im- 
mediately went  in  quest  each  of  his  own  brother,  to  impart 
to  them  the  good  news.  Andrew  was  the  first  to  find 
Simon,  his  brother,  and  he  led  him  to  Jesus.  The  next  day 
occurred  the  first  direct  call  from  Jesus  Himself.  When 
about  to  go  forth  into  Galilee  He  found  Philip,  and  at  once 
made  him  His  disciple  by  these  simple  words  :  "  Follow  me." 
No  sooner  had  Philip  recognized  Jesus  as  the  Messias  than 
he  sought  a  friend  of  his  to  impart  to  him  the  same  belief. 
This  friend  was  Nathanael,  who  was  at  first  reluctant  to  ad- 
mit that  anything  good  could  come  from  Nazareth,  but  who 
soon  became  a  fervent  disciple  of  Jesus.ft 

The  Gospel  narrative  does  not  describe  in  detail  the  first 
relations  of  these  five  disciples  with  their  new  Master.  It 
briefly  tells  us  of  Jesus  inviting  Andrew  and  John  to  His 

•  John  i.  45.  +  Cfr.  John  i.  44,  and  Luke  v.  10.  t  John  xxi.  s. 

§  Mark  i.  20;  John  xix.  27.     Cfr.  Fouard,  i.,  p.  135,  footnote  3.     ||  John  i.  1^24. 

^  John  L  35-40.  **  John  i.  41.  tt  John  i.  45-50. 


lOO  OUTLINES    OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

temporary  abode  and  spending  long  hours  with  them,* 
changing  the  name  of  Simon  into  that  of  Peter,  f  bidding 
Philip  simply  to  follow  Him,  X  and  finally  manifesting  to 
Nathanael  a  knowledge  more  than  human.  §  But  this  nar- 
rative, however  brief,  clearly  proves  two  things  :  (i)  that 
Our  Lord  had  from  the  very  beginning  of  His  public  life  a 
most  distinct  knowledge  of  His  entire  mission  ;  (2)  that 
His  first  five  disciples  derived  from  their  first  relations  with 
Him  a  real  conviction  that  he  was  the  long-expected 
Messias. 

This  same  narrative  is  also  remarkable  for  the  three  titles 
we  find  therein  given  to  Jesus.  The  first  is  that  of  "  t/ie 
Lamb  of  God"  applied  to  Our  Lord  by  St.  John  the  Baptist.  || 
Jesus  was  thereby  pointed  out  as  the  "  Servant  of  Jehovah," 
spoken  of  by  Isaias  (liii.)>  who  would  make  atonement  for  the 
sins  of  the  people  by  His  vicarious  sufferings.  The  second 
title  was  that  of  "  the  Son  of  God,  the  King  of  Israel,' '\  ad- 
dressed to  Jesus  by  Nathanael.  In  this  twofold  designation 
we  should  not  see  anything  else  than  an  emphatic  recogni- 
tion of  Our  Lord's  Messianic  dignity,  which,  in  the  eyes  of 
His  new  disciple,  exalted  Him  far  above  all  those — whether 
men  or  angels — who  could  be  styled  *'  the  sons  of  God," 
and  made  Him  "  the  Great  King  "  of  the  Jews.  The  last 
title  was  that  of  "  the  Son  of  Man,''  which  Our  Lord  ap- 
plied to  Himself  in  His  conversation  with  Nathanael.**  This 
was  another  Messianic  designation  in  the  phraseology  of 
the  time,  and  it  was  preferred  by  Jesus  to  any  other  in  con- 
nection with  His  Messianic  dignity,  chiefly  because  it  re- 
called less  sensibly  to  the  minds  of  His  hearers  their  false 
notions  of  material  prosperity  and  glory  during  the  Mes- 
sianic era.  ft 

2.  The  First  Miracle.  X\  The  faith  of  the  first  five  dis- 
ciples  of  Christ,  however  real,  needed  to  be  strengthened  by 

•  John  i.  38,  39.  t  John  i.  43.  X  John  i.  43.  %  John  i.  47,  48. 

II  John  i.  36.  H  John  i.  49.  **  John  i.  51. 

ft  FouARD,  i.,  p.  137;  FiLUON,  St.  Matt.,  p.  322  ;  St.  Jean,  p.  »i.    X%  John  ii.  i-ii. 


EARLY    DAYS   OF   CHRIST  S   PUBLIC    MINISTRY,  lOl 

the  sight  of  those  miracles  which  the  Messias  was  expected 
to  perform  in  Israel,  and  this  sight  was  first  granted  to  them 
on  the  occasion  of  a  wedding  at  Cana  of  Galilee. 

Two  towns  have  been  pointed  out  as  the  place  of  Our 
Lord's  first  miracle  :  (i)  Kana  el-Jelil,  about  9  miles 
north  of  Nazareth;  (2)  Kefer  Kenna,  only  4I  miles  north- 
east of  Nazareth.  Even  granting  that  the  modern  name 
Kana  el-Jelil  is  nearer  to  the  ancient  name  "  Cana  of 
Galilee,"  yet  it  must  be  maintained  that  the  traditional 
Kefer  Kenna  is  more  probably  the  place  of  the  wedding, 
because  of  its  proximity  to  Nazareth,  and  because  of  its 
situation  on  the  direct  road  between  Nazareth  and  the  lake 
of  Genesareth.* 

Upon  his  return  from  the  Jordan,  Jesus  had  not  gone 
directly  to  Cana,  but  to  Nazareth,  where,  however,  He  and 
His  disciples  did  not  find  Mary,  for  "  on  the  third  day  " — 
apparently  the  third  day  after  His  departure  for  Galilee — 
"  there  was  a  marriage  in  Cana  of  Galilee  ;  and  the  mother 
of  Jesus  was  there. "  f  Thither  He  directed  His  steps,  either 
previously  invited,  or  called  with  His  disciples  as  soon  as 
His  coming  was  known. 

Wedding  festivities  usually  continued  for  a  week,  and  a 
bridegroom  in  humble  circumstances — such  as  the  one 
spoken  of  in  the  Gospel  narrative — could  ill  afford  to  make 
provision  for  an  entertainment  of  so  long  duration.  It  has 
also  been  supposed  that  the  unlooked-for  arrival  of  Our 
Lord's  five  disciples  contributed  to  make  more  apparent,  if 
indeed  it  did  not  cause,  the  insufficiency  of  the  supply  of 
wine.  However  this  may  be,  Mary,  who  was  the  first  to 
notice  that  the  provision  of  wine  was  running  short,  was 
anxious  that  no  one  else  should  perceive  this  evidence  of 
poverty,  and  betaking  herself  to  Jesus,  she  said,  "  They 
have  no  wine." 

*  FouARD,  i.,  p.  140;  Andrews,  p.  162  sq.;  and  also,  article  Caoa,  in  Vigoukoux, 
Dictionnaire  de  la  Bible,  p.  iii  sq. 
t  John  iL  s. 


r02  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

In  these  simple  words  of  Mary,  it  is  easy  to  see  a  modest 
request,  prompted  by  her  thoughtful  charity  and  by  her  im- 
plicit trust  in  the  hitherto  hidden  power  of  Our  Lord  to  per- 
form miracles.  It  was  a  secret,  a  brief  appeal  of  His 
mother  to  One  who  had  ever  been  ready  to  comply  with 
her  least  desire,  and  it  was  made  at  the  time  which  she 
thought  the  most  opportune  to  spare  a  public  disgrace  to 
the  family  which  had  invited  Him  and  His  disciples.  It  is 
true  that  Mary  was  asking  for  a  miracle,  but  in  so  doing 
she  cannot  have  been  guilty  of  fault,  since  she  asked,  or 
rather  suggested,  the  very  thing  which  Jesus  did. 

In  answer  to  the  request  of  His  mother.  Our  Lord  said  : 
**  Woman,  what  is  to  Me  and  to  thee  ?  My  hour  is  not  yet 
come."  These  words  sound  harsh  to  our  ears,  but  on  the 
lips  of  Our  Saviour  they  had  not  the  same  meaning  as  in  our 
modern  languages.  First  of  all,  the  word  "  woman  "  was 
compatible  with  the  utmost  respect,  for  Jesus  will  use  it 
later  on,  when  about  to  die  on  the  cross  He  will  give  to 
Mary  one  of  the  most  tender  proofs  of  His  affection,*  and 
passages  from  the  classics  might  be  quoted,  where  the  same 
word  is  used  without  implying  the  least  tinge  of  disrespect 
or  blame.f  The  title  "woman,"  here  given  to  Mary,  seems 
simply  to  indicate  that  a  relation  different  from  that  of 
mother  to  son  is  referred  to.  The  next  words,  "  what  is  to 
Me  and  to  thee  ?"  have  not  necessarily  a  reprehensive  sense 
in  Semitic  languages.  J  They  denote  usually,  however,  some 
divergence  between  the  thoughts  and  ways  of  persons  scr 
brought  together.  Perhaps  Jesus  used  them  here  to  express 
the  following  opposition.  His  mother  seemed  to  imply  that 
He  was  ever  to  be  in  the  same  dependence  on  her  maternal 
wishes  and  suggestions,  whereas,  now  that  He  was  entering 
on  His  public  career.  Our  Lord  intended  to  work  independ- 
ently of  them.     The  last  words  of  Our  Saviour  to  Mary, 

•  John  xix.  a6, 

t  See  FouARD,  vol.  i.,  p.  145,  footnote  2. 

X  Cfr.  JuD.  xi.  12 :  2  Kings  xvi.  10. 


EARLY   DAYS   OF   CHRIST'S   PUBLIC    MINISTRY.  IO3 

"My  hour  is  not  yet  come,"  have  been  understood  in 
various  ways,  and  it  may  be  that  the  best  one — because  in 
greater  harmony  with  other  expressions  of  Jesus — is  that 
the  time  appointed  for  Him  to  work  miracles  had  not  yet 
fully  come.  But  our  blessed  Lady,  fully  confident  that  her 
divine  Son  had  not  completely  rejected  her  request,  or 
rather  that  He  would  grant  it,  said  to  the  waiters,  *'  What- 
soever He  shall  say  to  you,  do  ye." 

The  details  which  follow  in  the  sacred  narrative,  about 
the  change  of  the  water  into  wine,  bespeak  the  report  of  an 
eye-witness.  St.  John  speaks  not  only  of  water-pots  used 
for  the  frequent  ablutions  of  the  Jews — in  which  conse- 
quently no  wine  could  be  supposed  to  remain — but  of  their 
number,  of  their  material,  and  of  their  approximative  size 
("  they  contained  two  or  three  measures  apiece,"  that  is, 
between  about  eighteen  and  twenty-seven  gallons).  He 
remembers  the  astonishment  of  the  chief  steward  of  the 
feast,  who,  not  knowing  the  miraculous  origin  of  the  wine  he 
had  just  tasted,  hastened  to  address  complimentary  words 
to  the  bridegroom,  whom  he  thought  had  kept  till  then  his 
best  wine.  Finally,  he  had  apparently  ascertained  the 
reality  of  the  miracle  from  the  mouth  of  the  waiters  who  had 
drawn  the  water  and  had  carried  it  to  the  chief  steward,  and 
his  faith  and  that  of  his  fellow  disciples  was  strengthened 
by  this  first  manifestation  of  the  miraculous  power  of  Jesus.* 

•See  Maldonatus,  in  Joannem;  Didon,  Jesus  Christ;    Revue    Biblique,  1897, 
pp.  405-422. 


SYNOPSIS  OF  CHAPTER  IXo 

First  Year's  Ministry. 
(April  A.D.  27--March  a.d.   28.) 


I. 


Leading 
Features  of 
THE  Gospel 
Narrative: 


1.  Its  Contrast  with  Ordinary  History  or  Biog- 

raphy. 

2.  Difficulty  in  Harmonizing  Details. 


II. 

Events  in 

JUDiBA 

lApril-Decem- 
ber  A.D.  27): 


r  The  cleansing  of  the  Tem- 

1.  The  First  PaschJ      pie. 

in  Jerusalem:  j  Conversation  with  Nicode- 
l     mus. 

2.  Ministry  through  Judaea  (its  character  and 

duration). 


III. 

Jesus  in 
Samaria: 


1.  The  Province  of  Samaria  and  its  Inhabitants 

in  the  Time  of  Our  Lord. 

2.  Jesus  and  the  Samaritans  (John  iv.  1-44). 


IV. 

Ministry  in 
Galilee: 


1.  The  City  of  Capharnaum  and  its  Importance 

in  the  Public  Life  of  Christ. 

2.  Principal  Features  of  Our  Lord's  Work  in 

Galilee. 

104 


CHAPTER   IX. 

FIRST   year's   ministry. 

(April  A.D.  27— March  a.d.  28.) 
§  I.  Leading  Features  of  the  Gospel  Narrative, 

I.  Its  Contrast  with  Ordinary  History  or  Biog- 
raphy. It  is  particularly  in  their  narrative  of  Christ's  pub- 
lic ministry  that  our  canonical  Gospels  approach  the  form 
of  ordinary  history  or  biography.  Here  the  Evangelists 
record  in  detail  a  large  number  of  His  words  and  deeds,  and 
picture  Him  in  the  most  varied  circumstances  of  His  public 
and  private  life.  With  their  assistance  we  can  follow  Him 
in  His  journeys  through  Galilee  or  on  His  way  to  Jerusa- 
lem ;  we  can  hear  Him  reasoning  with  His  enemies,  teaching 
the  multitudes,  or  imparting  special  instructions  to  His  dis- 
ciples ;  we  can  observe  Him  performing  ordinary  actions 
or  working  great  miracles,  passing  "  the  whole  night  in  the 
prayer  of  God,"  or  giving  vent  to  His  inmost  feelings  in 
public  prayer  to  His  heavenly  Father.  As  we  peruse  the 
sacred  pages  we  naturally  admire  the  transparent  sim- 
plicity of  the  narrative,  together  with  its  skilful  selection 
and  arrangement  of  events  which  gradually  enable  us  to 
grasp  the  very  spirit  of  Christ  and  to  realize  tie  principal 
features  of  His  life  and  character.  In  a  word,  we  feel  in- 
stinctively that  in  their  narrative  of  Our  Lord's  public  min- 
istry the  Gospels  exhibit,  more  than  anywhere  else,  the  gen- 
eral characteristics  of  a  faithful  though  brief  history  of  the 
public  life  of  Christ. 

105 


Io6  OUTLINES  OP   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

Even  here,  however,  the  leading  feature  of  the  Gospel 
records  is  much  less  that  of  resemblance  to,  than  that  of 
contrast  with,  ordinary  history  or  biography,  ancient  or 
modern. 

While  in  ordinary  history  or  biography  the  circumstances 
of  place  and  time  rule  the  narration,  in  the  Gospels  it  is  the 
spiritual  import  or  some  other  aim  which  predominates.  In 
none  of  them  is  the  strict  chronological  sequerce  the 
standard  of  the  arrangement  of  facts,  and  hardly  any  of 
them  supplies  distinct  connections  of  detailed  events.  In- 
deed, as  Westcott*  justly  observes,  "the  style  of  St.  Mat- 
thew produces  the  greatest  appearance  of  continuity,  though 
probably  he  offers  the  most  numerous  divergences  from 
chronological  order." 

No  less  striking  than  this  absence  of  chronological  order 
is  the  fact  that  the  Gospel  narrative  does  not  aim  at  com- 
pleteness. Events  of  such  importance  as  the  raising  of 
Lazarus,  or  the  solemn  promise  of  the  Holy  Eucharist,  are 
recorded  by  one  Evangelist  alone,  although  they  must  needs 
have  been  known  to  the  other  three  writers.  Further,  time 
and  again,  general  formulas  f  sum  up  entire  categories  of 
facts  and  discourses,  and  prove  that  each  narrator  simply 
purposed  to  give  to  his  contemporaries,  after  a  special  de- 
sign of  his  own,  an  extract  of  the  deeds  and  teachings  of 
the  Son  of  God. 

Thus  the  unchronological  and  fragmentary  character  of 
the  Gospels,  even  in  their  narrative  of   Our  Lord's  public 
life,  clearly  proves  that  they  are  memoirs  rather  than  histo 
ries  or  biographies  generally  so  called. 

2.  Difficulty  in  Harmonizing  the  Details  of  the 
Gospel  Narrative.  The  contrast  just  pointed  out 
between  the  Gospel  narrative  and  ordinary  history  or  biog- 
raphy accounts  to  a  large  extent  for  the  difficulty  which  has 

*  Introd.  to  the  Study  of  the  Gospels,  chap.  vii. 

t  Cfr.  John  ii.  23  ;  xx.  30 ;  Luke  iv.  14 ;  Mark  i.  39,  etc. 


FIRST    year's   ministry.  IO7 

ever  been  felt  in  harmonizing  its  details.  Incompleteness 
in  the  description  of  the  same  event  by  several  Evangelists 
gives  rise  naturally  to  many  variations  in  detail,  while  it 
oftentimes  deprives  us  of  the  data  necessary  for  showing  the 
perfect  harmony  of  the  several  accounts.  True,  in  such 
cases,  commentators  or  harmonizers  are  seldom  at  a  loss  to 
suggest  plausible  ways  of  reconciling  opposite  statements  ; 
but  in  the  absence  of  positive  information  their  suggestions 
hardly  ever  appear  more  than  probable  solutions  of  a  diffi- 
culty. To  secure  for  their  theories  something  like  cer- 
tainty, it  would  be  necessary  for  them  to  throw  upon  the 
events  about  which  the  discrepancy  has  been  noticed  the 
full  light  of  the  circumstances  of  time  and  place  in  the 
midst  of  which  these  events  occurred,  as  this  light  would  in 
some  measure  make  up  for  the  lack  of  details  afforded  by 
the  Gospel  narrative.  But  in  most  cases  the  exact  circum- 
stances of  time  and  place  can  be  so  imperfectly  determined 
that  the  same  fact  which  is  assigned  by  one  writer  to  the 
very  beginning  of  Christ's  public  Ufe  is  considered  by 
another  as  belonging  to  a  much  later  period,  or  is  even 
placed  towards  the  very  end  of  Our  Lord's  mortal  career, 
while  a  third  declines  to  assign  it  to  any  specific  period,  or 
even  endeavors  to  prove  its  identity  with  another  fact  from 
which  most  writers  distinguish  it. 

In  view  of  these,  and  other  such  obscurities  which  sur- 
round the  details  of  the  Gospel  narrative,  we  shall  not  make 
in  the  following  pages  elaborate  attempts  to  show  that 
these  details  can  be  forced  into  the  semblance  of  a  com- 
plete and  connected  narrative.  We  shall,  rather,  confine 
ourselves  to  a  summary  view  of  the  principal  events  of 
Christ's  public  ministry,  and  mention  only  incidentally  the 
differences  in  detail  noticeable  in  the  sacred  records. 


Io8  OUTLINES  OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

§  2.  Events  in  JudcMt  (April- December^  A.D.  27). 

I.  The  First  Pasch  in  Jerusalem  (April  11-18). 
After  the  wedding  festivities  at  Cana  were  over,  Jesus,  to- 
gether with  His  mother,  His  brethren,  and  His  disciples, 
went  down  to  Capharnaum,*  a  town  some  20  miles  distant 
from  Cana  and  situated  on  the  northwestern  shore  of  the 
Sea  of  Galilee.  The  Pasch  of  the  Jews  was  near  at  hand, 
and  Capharnaum  would  be  a  convenient  place  to  join  the 
annual  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem.    \ 

Leaving  Capharnaum  after  only  a  few  days'  sojourn.  Our 
Lord  probably  took  the  road  usually  followed  at  that  time 
by  the  caravans  which  left  the  western  shore  of  the  Sea  of 
Galilee.  This  road  passed  through  Scythopolis,  Archelais, 
Phasaelis,  and  Jericho,  crossed  in  a  westerly  direction  the 
wilderness  of  Judaea,  and  traversing  Bethany  and  Beth- 
phage,  led  to  the  Mount  of  Olives  and  the  Holy  City. 

After  a  journey  of  about  90  miles  Jesus  reached 
Jerusalem,  probably  a  few  days  before  the  Paschal  celebra- 
tion, which  this  year  fell  on  the  nth  of  April,  and  which 
marks  the  beginning  of  Our  Lord's  public  ministry  in 
Judaea.  St.  John,  who  alone  records  the  events  connected 
with  this  sojourn  of  Our  Lord  in  Jerusalem,  mentions  first 
a  cleansing  of  the  Temple  by  the  Son  of  God,t  and  this 
cleansing  is  plainly  distinct  from  the  later  one  recorded  by 
Matthew  xxi.  12-16;  Mark  xi.  15-19;  Luke  xix.  45-484 
On  the  occasion  of  this  the  greatest  Jewish  solemnity,  the 
Outer  Court  of  the  Temple  had  gradually  been  transformed 
into  a  market-place  particularly  for  the  convenience  of  the 
Jews  who,  coming  from  distant  countries,  were  obliged  to 
purchase  in  this  court  the  victims  for  their  offerings,  and  to 
exchange  their  foreign  money,  stamped  with  idolatrous  im- 
ages, into  the  sacred  shekel  with  which  alone  the  Temple 

*  John  ii.  12.  t  John  ii.  14-22. 

t  FiLLioN,  St.  Jean,  p.  40;  Meyer,  on  St.  John,  American  Edition,  p.  in. 


FIRST    YEAR  S    MINISTRY.  IO9 

dues  could  be  paid.  From  the  strong  language  of  Our 
Lord  in  driving  out  of  the  place  the  traders  in  sheep,  cattle, 
and  pigeons,  and  in  overthrowing  the  tables  of  the  money- 
changers, it  seems  probable  that  not  only  a  fair  and  honest, 
but  even  an  extortionate,  traffic  was  carried  on  within  the 
Court  of  the  Gentiles.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  plain  that  the 
close  neighborhood  of  a  noisy  market  must  have  greatly 
interfered  with  the  religious  stillness  requisite  within  the 
Inner  Courts  for  either  the  silent  prayer  of  the  solitary  wor- 
shipper or  the  deep  recollection  of  the  multitude  when  at- 
tending the  more  important  ceremonies.  All  this  was,  in- 
deed, a  great  desecration  of  God's  house,  but  the  Jewish 
priests  derived  a  large  profit  from  the  whole  traffic,  and 
hence  they  had  sanctioned  what  they  should  have  consid- 
ered as  an  intolerable  profanation  of  the  Temple. 

It  was,  then,  the  honor  of  His  Father's  house  that  Jesus 
came  forward  to  vindicate  when  driving  out  the  buyers  and 
sellers.  With  an  irresistible  majesty,  as  St.  Jerome  says,  He 
exclaimed,  "  Make  not  the  house  of  My  Father  a  house  of 
traffic."  Any  Jew  might  rise  up  in  a  holy  zeal  against  pub- 
lic abuses,*  but  the  most  ardent  zealots  generally  justified 
their  proceedings  by  unquestionable  signs  of  the  divine  ap- 
proval.! By  His  conduct  Jesus  had  rebuked  not  only  the 
people  at  large,  but  also  the  Jewish  leaders.  The  Temple 
officials  came,  therefore,  to  Him  and  requested  a  sign 
whereby  He  would  prove  His  authority  "  to  do  these 
things."  X 

"  Destroy  this  temple,"  replied  Jesus,  "  and  in  three  days 
I  will  raise  it  up."  These  words  seemed  to  refer  to  the 
Temple  in  which  He  and  His  questioners  were  standing; 
but  they  referred  to  a  much  holier  sanctuary  of  the  di- 
vinity. *'  He  spoke  of  the  temple  of  His  body."  §  The 
great  proof  which  Our  Lord  was  to  give  to  all  was  indeed 
His  resurrection;  but  this  connection  between  His  answer 

*  Numb.  zxv.  7.  1 3  Kings  zviii.  33,  24.  $  John  ii.  18.         §  John  u.  21. 


no  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT   HISTORY. 

and  their  question  was  not  realized  even  by  His  disciples 
until  a  much  later  day,  when  they  remembered  His  pro- 
phetic words  and  derived  from  their  fulfilment  an  increase 
of  their  faith.  *  The  words  of  Jesus  were  therefore  under- 
stood as  referring  to  the  magnificent  edifice,  the  rebuilding 
of  which,  begun  long  years  before  by  Herod,  was  still  in 
progress;  and  they  were  maliciously  construed  by  His 
enemies  into  a  blasphemous  boast  against  the  house  of 
Jehovah.f 

In  addition  to  the  cleansing  of  the  Temple,  St.  John 
records  that  during  the  Paschal  festivities  Our  Lord  per- 
formed in  Jerusalem  several  miracles  which  he  does  not 
report  in  detail.  They  made  such  an  impression  that 
"  many  believed  in  His  name,"  that  is,  believed  Him  to  be 
the  Messias.t  But  Jesus,  knowing  that  these  believers 
were  far  from  possessing  deep  convictions,  showed  towards 
them  the  greatest  reserve.§ 

It  was  different,  however,  with  Nicodemus,  a  personage 
whom  St.  John  introduces  as  a  Pharisee,  and  a  member  of 
the  Sanhedrim. H  This  man  feared,  indeed,  the  hostility  of 
most  of  his  colleagues,  who  were  already  opposed  to  Jesus; 
yet,  having  seen  the  miracles  which  Our  Lord  had  per- 
formed, and  being  convinced  that  Jesus  was  a  teacher  truly 
sent  by  God,  he  desired  to  inquire  from  Him  the  nature  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  the  manner  in  which  men  were 
to  enter  into  it.  He  therefore  came  to  Jesus  during  the 
night,  and  learned,  to  his  great  astonishment,  that,  far  from 
belonging  to  the  new  kingdom  by  natural  right,  the  Jews 
had  "  to  be  born  again  of  water  and  the  Holy  Ghost,"  that 
is,  to  be  spiritually  regenerated  in  the  vivifying  waters  of 
Christian  baptism,  in  order  that  they  might  be  admitted 
into  the  kingdom  of  God.^  The  action  of  the  Spirit  which 
gives  to  the  waters  of  baptism  their  vivifying  power  is,  in- 

*  JoHK  ii.  aa.  t  John  ii.  19 ;  Matt.  xxvi.  61.  t  John  ii.  13. 

§  John  ii.  a4,  as-        H  John  iii.  i;  vii.  50.  IT  John  iii.  a-5. 


FIRST    YEAR'S   MINISTRY.  Ill 

deed,  hidden,  but  because  of  its  hiddenness  its  action 
should  not  be  denied,  any  more  than  that  of  the  wind,  the 
presence  of  which  is  ascertained  only  by  its  effects.* 

After  his  summary  of  Our  Lord's  dialogue  with  Nicode- 
mus,  the  beloved  apostle  reports  the  substance  of  a  beauti- 
ful discourse  delivered  by  Jesus,  apparently  in  connection 
with  His  interview  with  Nicodemus.f 

2.  Ministry  through  Judaea.J:  When  the  companies 
of  pilgnms  started  from  Jerusalem  for  their  homes,  Our 
Saviour  went  with  His  disciples  "  into  the  land  of  Judaea," 
that  is,  into  the  province  of  that  name,  as  distinguished 
from  its  chief  city.  It  is  impossible  to  determine  the  extent 
of  Judaean  territory  through  which  Our  Lord  went  at  this 
time.  From  St.  John  (iii.  22  ^,  and  iv.  3, 4),  it  may,  however, 
be  inferred  that  He  visited  several  parts  of  Judaea,  and  from 
Acts  X.  37  it  seems  probable  that  He  went  through  most,  if 
not  all,  the  rural  districts  of  that  province. 

The  same  uncertainty  prevails  about  the  character  of  Our 
Lord's  teaching  during  this  same  period.  It  may  be  con- 
jectured, however,  that  His  preaching  was  of  the  same 
preparatory  kind  as  we  find  described  a  little  later  in  St. 
Matthew  (iv.  17),  where  we  read:  "  From  that  time  Jesus 

BEGAN    TO    preach    AND    TO    SAY:    DO    PENANCE,    FOR    THE 

KINGDOM  OF  HEAVEN  IS  AT  HAND,"  and  that  Consequently 
it  was  substantially  the  same  as  the  preaching  of  His  holy 
precursor.  Those  who  listened  to  His  words  received  from 
the  hands  of  His  disciples  §  a  baptism  which  was  most 
likely  identical  with  the  rite  administered  by  St.  John  the 
Baptist.  II 

Meanwhile  the  forerunner  of  Jesus  was  still  baptizing  in 
a  place  called  '*  Ennon,  near  Salim,"  which  it  is  impos- 
sible to  identify  at  the  present  day.     It  was  more  probably 


♦JoHNiii.  7,  8.  t  JoHNiii.  11-21.  t  John  ilL  sa-36. 

§  John  iii  23  ^r ;  iv.  a.       n  See  Filuon,  St,  Jean,  p.  58. 


112  OUTLINES   OF    NEW   TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

on  the  west  side  of  the  Jordan,*  in  Judaea,  and  apparently 
not  far  distant  from  the  place  where  Our  Lord's  disciples 
baptized  the  repentant  multitudes.! 

This  circumstance  of  Jesus  and  John  teaching  and  bap- 
tizing at  the  same  time  in  the  vicinity  of  each  other  natu- 
rally excited  some  speculation  among  the  people.  Some  of 
John's  disciples  fell  into  an  argument  "  concerning  purifi- 
cation " — that  is,  concerning  baptism — with  a  Jew,  and  they 
referred  the  question  to  John  himself  for  his  decision. 
These  disciples  were  jealous  of  their  master's  honor  and 
could  not  bear  that  Jesus,  whom  they  thought  greatly 
indebted  to  John,  should  baptize  and  attract  more  follow- 
ers than  did  the  holy  precursor. J  But  John,  far  from  shar- 
ing this  feeling  of  jealousy,  earnestly  endeavored  to  remove 
it  from  the  heart  of  his  disciples.  He  reminded  them  that 
he  had  always  asserted  that  he  was  not  himself  the  Christ, 
but  greatly  inferior  to  Him  ;  and  in  the  most  emphatic 
manner  he  reasserted  his  own  secondary  station.  He  was 
but  the  humble  attendant  on  the  bridegroom  ;  Christ  was 
the  bridegroom  Himself  ;  his  own  doctrine  was  that  of 
earth,  that  of  Christ  was  of  heaven  ;  it  was  only  right  that 
the  Son  of  God  and  the  author  of  eternal  life  "should 
increase,"  and  his  precursor  "  decrease."  § 

Our  Lord's  ministry  in  Judaea  extended  until  the  month 
of  December,  a.d.  27,  as  we  may  infer  from  His  words  to 
His  disciples  when  passing  by  Sychar  :  "  there  are  yet  four 
MONTHS,  and  then  the  harvest  COMETH,"  II  for  these 
words  can  be  understood  only  of  the  first  crops  which,  in 
Palestine,  are  gathered  during  the  month  of  April.  His 
departure  was  a  hasty  one,^  most  likely  because  of  an 
imminent  danger  due  to  the  very  great  offence  which  His 
success,  far  greater  than  that  of  John,  gave  to  the  Pharisees 
who,  at  the  time,  wielded  so  much  power  in  the  province  of 

•  Cfr.  John  iii.  a6.  t  See  Andrews,  pp.  x73-i7S-  *  John  iii.  as,  a6. 

§  John  iii.  27-36.  II  John  iv.  5,  35.  ^  John  iv.  4. 


FIRST    year's   ministry.  II3 

Judaea.*  We  learn,  moreover,  from  the  Synoptistsf  that 
the  imprisonment  of  John  the  Baptist,  which  probably- 
occurred  at  this  time,  contributed  to  Our  Lord's  return  into 
Galilee.J 

§  3*  y^sus  in  Samaria. 

I.  The  Province  of  Samaria  and  its  Inhabitants 
in  the  Time  of  Our  Lord.  Between  Judaea  and  the 
northern  province  of  Galilee  lay  the  district  of  Samaria. 
Since  the  accession  of  Herod  to  the  throne  it  had  been  a 
province  of  the  Jewish  kingdom,  and  after  the  deposition 
of  Archelaus,  had  passed,  together  with  Judaea,  under  a 
Roman  procurator.  According  to  Josephus§  the  Samari- 
tan territory  "begins  at  a  village  in  the  great  plain  (the 
plain  of  Esdraelon)  called  Ginaea  and  ends  at  the  district, 
or  toparchy^  of  Akrabim,  and  is  entirely  of  the  same  nature 
as  Judaea.  Both  countries  are  made  up  of  hills  and  valleys, 
the  soil  is  suitable  for  agriculture,  and  is  very  fertile.  .  .  . 
They  are  not  watered  by  many  rivers,  but  derive  their  chief 
moisture  from  the  rains.  The  river  water  is  exceedingly 
sweet,  and  the  cattle  fed  upon  the  excellent  grasses  yield 
more  milk  than  those  of  other  places.  Both  countries  are 
very  populous." 

As  already  remarked  in  a  preceding  chapter  (Chapter  VI.) 
the  inveterate  enmity  between  Jews  and  Samaritans  reached 
its  climax  in  the  time  of  Christ.  They  both  utterly  despised 
each  other,!  and  the  Jews,  in  their  pilgrimages  to  Jerusa- 
lem, usually  avoided  passing  through  Samaria  in  order  to 
escape  words  of  abuse  or  deeds  of  violence.  Josephus 
loses  no  occasion  to  tell  us  of  Samaritan  tricks  and  out- 
rages, and  there  is  no  reason  to  question  his  statements ; 
and  if  we  had  a  Samaritan  historian  we  would  undoubtedly 
hear  quite  as  much  that  was  no  less  true  on  the  other  side. 

*  Cfr.  John  vii.  1-3,  25,  32.  t  Matt.  iv.  12  ;  Mark  i.  14 ;  Lukb  iv.  14,  15. 

X  See  Andrews,  pp.  178-182.         §  Wars  of  the  Jews,  book  III.,  chap,  iii.,  §  4. 
U  Cfr.  John  viii.  48 ;  iv.  9. 


114  OUTLINES   OF   NEW   TESTAMENT   HISTORY. 

"This  people  were,  nevertheless,  of  the  same  faith  as 
Israel.  They  adored  the  one  God  of  the  patriarchs  of  old, 
and  avoided  carefully  all  practices  of  heathenism  in  their 
worship  of  Jehovah.  The  only  sacred  books  in  their  pos- 
session were  the  Mosaic  writings,  and  so  far  as  their  exclu- 
sion from  the  sanctuary  in  Jerusalem  permitted,  they  kept 
strictly  to  the  statutes  of  the  Pentateuch.  The  popular 
Jewish  expectation  of  the  Messias  was  indeed  foreign  to 
them,  for  the  politico-national  element  in  it  could  not  but 
find  them  unsympathetic,  since  they  were  excluded  from 
the  "  Kingdom."  They,  too,  hoped  for  the  Messias  ;  but 
on  the  ground  of  a  passage  from  the  Law,*  they  thought  of 
Him  more  as  an  ethical  reformer  than  a  mighty  converter 
or  restorer."  f 

2.  Jesus  and  the  Samaritans.!  Such  were,  briefly, 
the  country  and  the  people  which  Jesus  had  to  visit  as  He 
wished  to  reach  quickly  the  friendly  province  of  Galilee. 
A  rapid  and  fatiguing  journey  brought  Him  to  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Sychar,  a  small  Samaritan  town  most  likely  to 
be  identified  with  a  village  known  as  'Askar,  on  the  south- 
ern base  of  Mount  Hebal,  some  40  miles  north  of  Jerusa- 
lem. At  the  foot  of  Mount  Garizim,  on  the  other  side  of 
the  valley  of  Sichem,  was  the  well  which  the  patriarch 
Jacob  had  dug  when  he  bought  the  ground  "of  the 
children  of  Hemor,  the  father  of  Sichem.  "§  This  well 
still  exists,  although  it  seems  there  is  water  in  it  only 
during  the  rainy  season.  It  has  a  diameter  of  9 
feet  and  its  present  depth  is  about  75  feet.  It  is  on  the 
low  wall  of  masonry  built  around  the  brim  of  Jacob's  well 
that  Our  Lord  sat  to  rest  Himself  while  His  disciples 
entered  the  town  to  purchase  provisions.  It  was  about  the 
sixth  hour,  or  midday,  according  to  the  Jewish  manner  of 
reckoning  from  sunrise  to  sunset;  the  usual  hour,  indeed,  for 

*  Deuter.  xviii.  15.  t  Weiss,  Life  of  Christ,  vol.  ii.,  p.  33,  Eng.  TransL 

*  John  iv.  1-44.  §  Gen.  xxxiii.  19 ;  John  iv.  12. 


FIRST    year's   ministry.  II5 

the  principal  meal  of  the  Jews,*  but  not  the  usual  one  for 
women  to  come  to  fetch  water.  While,  however,  Jesus  sat 
waiting  at  the  well  a  woman  came  from  the  town  with  her 
waterpot  on  her  shoulder  to  draw  water  from  this  famous 
spring. 

Then  occurred  between  Our  Lord  and  the  Samaritan 
woman  a  conversation  too  well  known  to  be  repeated  here. 
Its  summary  in  our  fourth  Gospel  reveals  the  zeal  of  Jesus 
for  the  conversion  of  souls,  makes  known  to  us  the  Mes- 
sianic hopes  of  the  Samaritans,  and  proves  that  from  the 
beginning  of  His  public  mission  the  Saviour  of  the  world 
had  a  perfect  knowledge  both  of  His  Messianic  dignity 
and  of  the  manner  of  divine  worship  He  was  to  introduce 
into  the  world. 

The  conversation  was  interrupted  by  the  return  of  the 
disciples  with  the  provisions  they  had  bought.  They  won- 
dered that  Jesus  talked  with  one  of  the  hateful  race,  but 
they  did  not  dare  to  question  Him  about  it.  Meanwhile 
the  woman  had  quickly  returned  to  the  town  and  made 
known  to  the  inhabitants  what  had  occurred  between  her 
and  One  who  might  be  the  Messias.  Accordingly,  the 
Samaritans  went  forth  to  see  Our  Saviour,  and  invited  Him 
to  tarry  with  them.  Complying  with  their  request,  He 
remained  two  days  in  Sychar  ;  and  to  the  number  of  those 
who  had  believed  in  Jesus  on  the  woman's  report  of  His 
supernatural  knowledge,  many  more  were  added  who,  hav- 
ing heard  His  sacred  words,  were  convinced  that  He  was 
''  indeed  the  Saviour  of  the  world." 

§  4.  Ministry  in  Galilee, 

I.  The  City  of  Capharnaum  and  its  Importance 
in  the  Public  Life  of  Christ.  Proceeding  from 
Sychar,  Our  Lord  soon  entered  Galilee  and  directed  His 

*  JosBPHUS,  Life,  54 ;  Andrews,  pp.  184,  185. 


Il6  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY, 

Steps  towards  Cana.  As  He  went  along  He  preached 
repentance  and  the  near  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  God.* 
In  the  various  villages  He  traversed  people  welcomed 
Him,  for  they  had  witnessed  His  miracles  at  the  Pasch, 
which  they  also  had  celebrated  in  Jerusalem.!  Not  long 
after  His  arrival  at  Cana  the  rumor  of  His  return  reached 
Capharnaum,  only  about  20  miles  distant.  Thereupon  "  a 
certain  ruler,  whose  son  was  sick  in  Capharnaum,"  and 
who  is  thought  by  many  to  have  been  Chusa,  the  steward 
of  Herod  Antipas,  came  to  Jesus  beseeching  Him  to  come 
down  to  that  city  and  heal  his  son,  but  Jesus  wrought  the 
miracle  requested  of  Him  without  departing  from  Cana.J 

Soon  after  this  great  miracle  §  Christ  was  Himself  on 
His  way  to  Capharnaum,  which  was  at  the  time  one  of  the 
most  important  towns  of  Galilee.  Situated  on  the  north- 
western shore  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee — whether  at  Khan 
Minyeh,  at  the  northeastern  end  of  the  plain  of  Genesa- 
reth,  or  at  Tell  Hum,  about  2^  miles  northeast  of  Khan 
Minyeh,  does  not  appear,! — Capharnaum  stood  on  one  of 
the  great  caravan  roads  between  the  East  and  Egypt.     It 

*  Matt.  iv.  17 ;  Mark  i.  15. 

t  John  iv.  45. 

t  John  iv.  46-54- 

§  The  question  whether  Jesus  went  to  Nazareth  before  repairing  to  Capharnaum  is 
still  a  matter  of  discussion  among  scholars.  Those  who  think  that  He  did  not  visit 
Nazareth  at  this  time  identify  the  visit  spoken  of  in  LuKKiv.  16-30  with  the  one 
recorded  in  Matt,  xiii.  53-58,  and  Mark  vi.  1-6.     (See  Bruneau,  Harmony,  p.  46.) 

I]  Cfr.  ViGOUROux,  Diet,  de  la  Bible  ;  Andrews,  Life  of  Christ,  pp.  224-238 ;  Hast- 
ings, Diet,  of  the  Bible. — The  Sea  of  Galilee,  called  also  the  lake  of  Genesareth,  is 
about  60  miles  northeast  from  Jerusalem  and  27  east  from  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and 
in  size  and  shape  it  is  somewhat  similar  to  Lake  Lucerne,  in  Switzerland.  It  is  an  irregu- 
lar oval,  the  broad  end  of  which  is  towards  the  north,  and  it  is  13  miles  in  length  by  4 
to  7  miles  in  width,  and  165  feet  in  depth  in  its  deepest  part.  Its  shores  are  sur- 
rounde  d  by  hills,  which  on  the  west  side  are  broken  by  broad  valleys  with  streams  de- 
scending to  the  lake,  and  between  the  hills  and  the  water  edge  there  is  a  narrow  level  belt 
which  injthe  springtime  is  covered  with  verdure  (Matt.  xiv.  19,  etc.).  On  the  western 
shore  the  principal  towns  were  formerly  Bethsaida^  Capharnaum^  Corozain,  Mag- 
dala,  and  Tiberias ;  but  they  have  all  long  disappeared,  except  the  town  of  Tiberias  and 
the  wretched  village  of  El  Mejdel  (ancient  Magdala).  In  Our  Lord's  time,  as  at  the 
present  day,  the  waters  of  the  lake  abounded  in  fish,  and  were  subject  to  sudden  ar-^ 
violent  storms. 


FIRST  year's  ministry.  ny 

was  a  customs-station,*  and  had  a  Roman  garrisonf  under 
the  command  of  a  centurion,  who  thought  it  worth  while  to 
ingratiate  himself  with  the  Jewish  population  by  building 
them  a  synagogue.^ 

After  His  rejection  by  Nazareth,§  Jesus  selected  this 
flourishing  city  as  His  own  home,||  and  as  the  centre  of  His 
work.  Capharnaum  had  much  to  recommend  it  to  Our 
Saviour  for  this  twofold  purpose.  He  could  feel  more  at 
home  in  a  place  far  removed  from  the  Judaean  authorities, 
amid  a  mixed  and  consequently  less  fanatic  population, 
and  near  the  residence  of  the  grateful  courtier  of  Herod, 
whose  son  He  had  quite  lately  healed.  Again,  in  this  fish- 
ing-town His  disciples  could  easily  pursue  their  avocation 
of  fishermen  and  He  himself  could  at  any  time  be  carried 
to  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  where  He  could 
find  greater  quiet  and  security.  Finally,  from  Capharnaum, 
as  from  a  centre  of  operation,  He  could  easily  start  on  His 
missionary  journeys  through  Galilee  on  the  west,  Trachon- 
itis  on  the  north,  Decapolis  and  Peraea  on  the  east  and 
south. 

2.  Principal  Features  of  Our  Lord's  Work  in 
Galilee.  It  was  not  long  after  settling  in  Capharnaum,  that 
Jesus,  not  satisfied  with  preaching  and  performing  miracles 
in  that  city,!"  resolved  to  pay  a  visit  to  other  places  in 
Galilee.** 

Accordingly,  He  started  with  His  disciples — to  whom  He 
had  but  lately  extended  a  second  call  on  the  occasion  of  the 
miraculous  draught  of  fishes  ft — on  His  first  circuit  or  mis- 
sionary journey  through  that  province.  "  We  have  no  suffi- 
cient data  to  determine  the  local  order  of  these  visitations  ; 
but  it  is  only  natural  to  suppose  that  He  would  first  visit 
the  places  near  Capharnaum  and  then  those  more  remote."tt 

*  Matt.  ix.  9.  +  Matt.  viii.  5.  t  Lukb  vii.  5.  §  Luke  iv.  16-30. 

B  Matt.  ix.  i.  H  Cfr.  Mark  i.  21-34 ;  Lukb  iv.  31-41 ;  Matt.  viii.  14-17- 

*•  Mark  i.  35  sq.;  Luke  iv.  42  sq.  tt  Mark  i.  16-20.  tt  Mark  i.  38. 


Il8  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

In  going  "  through  all  Galilee  *  His  common  mode  of 
action  was  apparently  this:  on  entering  a  city  where  there 
was  a  synagogue,  He  availed  Himself  of  the  privilege  which 
His  reputation  as  a  rabbi  and  prophet  gave  Him,  to  teach 
the  people  from  the  Scriptures.  This  He  did  upon  the 
Sabbaths  and  synagogue  days.  ...  At  other  times  He 
preached  in  the  streets  or  fields,  or  sitting  in  a  boat  upon 
the  sea;  in  every  convenient  place  where  the  people  were 
willing  to  hear  Him.  His  fame  as  a  healer  of  the  sick 
caused  many  to  be  brought  to  Him,  and  He  appears  in  gen- 
eral to  have  healed  all.f  His  sojourn  in  any  single  village 
was  necessarily  brief,  and  therefore  those  who  had  been 
really  impressed  by  His  works  or  words,  and  desired  to  see 
or  hear  Him  more,  followed  Him  to  the  adjoining  towns  or 
sought  Him  at  Capharnaum.  The  disciples  do  not  appear 
to  have  taken  any  public  part  as  teachers.  The  expenses 
of  these  journeys  were  probably  borne  by  the  contributions 
of  the  disciples,  and  by  the  voluntary  offerings  of  those  who 
had  been  healed,  and  of  their  friends.  ...  It  should 
also  be  noted  as  a  characteristic  of  the  beginning  of  His 
ministry,  that  we  do  not  find  any  open  avowal  of  His  Mes- 
sianic claims. ";[ 

The  Gospel  narrative  affords  us  no  particulars  of  Our 
Lord's  first  missionary  journey.  Only  one  miracle,  the  heal- 
ing of  a  leper,  is  recorded  in  detail,  and  this  because  the 
cure  of  a  leper  was  in  every  instance  and  by  all  traced  to 
the  direct  agency  of  God.  This  helps  us  to  understand  why 
Jesus,  knowing  perfectly  the  stupendous  effect  which  the 
news  of  such  a  miracle  would  produce  on  the  people's 
minds,  strictly  imposed  silence  on  the  healed  man,  lest  erro- 
neous Messianic  hopes  should  be  confirmed  among  the  Jew- 
ish people.  § 

After  Christ's  return  to  Capharnaum  two  events  occurred 

*  Mark  i.  39.  t  Mark  vi.  56 ;  Matt.  ix.  35. 

t  Andrews-  pp.  a^i,  24a.        §  Matt.  viii.  1-14 ;  Mark  i.  40-44 ;  Lukk  v.  ia-14. 


FIRST    year's   ministry.  II9 

which  do  not  require  more  than  a  passing  mention  here. 
The  first  was  the  healing  of  a  paralytic,  which  Jesus  effected 
as  a  proof  that  *'  the  Son  of  Man  "  had  the  power  to  remit 
sins,  and  which  filled  the  Pharisees  and  Doctors  of  the  Law 
who  witnessed  it  with  indignation  towards  one  whom  they 
considered  as  a  blasphemer.  The  second  is  the  call  of  Levi 
the  tax-gatherer,  who,  while  sitting  at  the  receipt  of  custom 
— probably  at  the  point  where  the  great  road  from  Da'^as- 
cus  comes  to  Capharnaum — heard  from  Jesus  these  simple 
words,  ''Follow  Me."  And  the  publican  Levi — called  also 
Matthew — leaving  all  things,  rose  up  and  followed  Christ.* 

*  Maejc  1.  45 ;  ii.  14 ;  Luks  v.  15-18 ;  Matt.  iz.  a-9. 


SYNOPSIS   OF   CHAPTER  X. 
Second  Year's  Ministry. 

(March  a.d.  28 — April  a.d.  29.) 


I. 

Short 
Sojourn  in 
Jerusalem: 


Occasion 


^t 


"A   Festival    Day    of    the   Jews' 

(John  V.  i). 
Probably  a  Second  Pasch. 


Prominent  Features  (John  v.  2-47). 


II. 

Jesus  and  the 

Twelve 


rHE  1 


1.  The  Twelve  selected  :  Where?  How?  Why? 

Who  they  were  ? 

«    TUoj.  X ^^.0.,,  (  Why  sent  forth? 

2.  Their  Temporary  )  ^j'       ,^.     .. 


Mission 


(W 


ith    what    instructions 
and  powers  ? 


III. 

Christ's 

Public 

Teaching: 


1.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount :  Place,  Audience, 

General  Object. 

2.  The  Parables  :  Nature,  Principal  Teachings. 

3.  The  Discourse  in  the  Synagogue  of  Caphar' 

naum  (John  vi.). 


^V.  I.   Principal  Causes. 

His  Growing  J  -..,«,„. 

Influence  in  j  *•   Climax  towards  the  End  of  Second  Year » 

Galilee:  Ministry. 


lao 


CHAPTER  X. 

SECOND   year's   MINISTRY. 

(March  a.d.  28— April  a.d.  29.) 
§  I.  Short  Sojourn  in  Jerusalem  {March- Aprils  A.D.  28), 

1.  Occasion  of  Our  Lord's  Sojourn  in  Jerusalem. 

The  second  year  of  Our  Lord's  public  ministry  is  marked, 
like  the  first,  by  a  short  sojourn  in  Jerusalem.  St.  John, 
who  alone  makes  us  acquainted  with  this  event,  states  that 
it  was  occasioned  by  the  desire  of  Jesus  to  celebrate  in  the 
Holy  City  "  a  festival  day  of  the  Jews,"  but  as  he  does 
not  say  which  Jewish  festival  this  was,  biblical  scholars  are 
divided  between  four  important  feasts  which  Our  Saviour 
might  have  celebrated  in  Jerusalem  after  His  return  from 
Judaea  in  December  of  the  preceding  year. 

These  festivals  are  (i)  that  of  Purim,  falling  in  March, 
and  instituted  to  commemorate  the  deliverance  of  the  Jew- 
ish exiles  from  the  cruel  designs  of  Aman  ;*  (2)  that  of  the 
Passover,  in  April  ;  (3)  the  feast  of  Pentecost,  occur- 
ring this  year  on  the  19th  of  May  ;  (4)  the  feast  of  Taber- 
nacles, falling  on  the  23d  of  September.  Strong  argu- 
ments point  to  the  Paschal  festival  as  the  one  referred  to 
by  St.  John,  and  indeed  the  Passover  was  pre-eminently  the 
"festival  day  of  the  Jews."  t 

2.  Prominent  Features  of  Our  Lord's  Sojourn 
in  Jerusalem.  This  visit  of  Jesus  to  the  Holy  City  has 
a  special  importance  in  the  public  life  of  Our  Lord,  for  on 

•  Cfr.  Esther  iii.  7 ;  ix.  24.        t  Fouard,  i.,  appendix  vii. ;  Andrews,  pp.  189-198. 

121 


122  OUTLINES  OF   NEW    TESTAMENT   HISTORY. 

the  occasion  of  the  miracle  at  the  pool  of  Bethsaida,  which 
He  wrought  at  this  time,*  He  manifested  His  Messianic  and 
divine  character  more  openly  than  before,  and  in  conse- 
quence the  official  classes  of  Judaea  showed  themselves 
more  hostile  to  Him. 

The  pool  of  Bethsaida  was  most  likely  situated  on  the 
northeast  side  of  Jerusalem,  a  little  northwest  of  the  pres- 
ent church  of  St.  Anne  and  not  far  from  St.  Stephen's 
gate,  f  It  had  five  porches,  and  was  much  resorted  to  for 
the  miraculous  power  of  its  waters.  Among  the  crowd  of 
sufferers  who  had  gathered  there  Our  Saviour  took  no- 
tice of  one  who  had  been  disabled  by  disease  for  thirty-eight 
years;  and  as  he  had  no  friend  to  immerse  him  in  the  waters 
of  the  pool  "when  they  were  troubled,"  Jesus  took  pity  on 
him,  healed  him  by  His  word,  and  sent  him  away  carrying 
his  bed  (a  thin  mattress  or  blanket)  with  him.J 

This  happened  on  a  Sabbath,  and  the  carrying  of  any 
burden  on  such  a  day  was  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  most 
heinous  offences  against  the  Law,  so  that  the  sight  of  a  man 
thus  violating  the  statute  in  a  public  place  naturally  excited 
the  greatest  attention.  The  clamor  of  the  official  classes 
was  raised  at  once  against  the  man,  and  when  they  learned 
that  Jesus  was  the  author  both  of  the  cure  and  of  the  vio- 
lation of  the  Sabbath,  they  resolved  on  putting  Our  Saviour 
to  death,  and  summoned  Him  before  the  Sanhedrim. 

Our  Lord  availed  Himself  of  this  trial  to  declare  more 
openly  than  on  His  first  visit  to  Jerusalem  His  equality  with 
the  Father,  His  Messianic  character.  His  right  to  divine 
honor,  and  to  prove  to  His  judges  that  His  claims,  how- 
ever astonishing  they  might  appear  to  them,  rested  not  on 
His  own  assertion  alone,  but  also  on  the  unquestionable  tes- 

*  John  v. 

t  About  the  probable  site  of  the  pool  of  Bethsaida  (in  Greek  Bethesdd),  cfr.  ViGOU- 
Roux,  Dictionnaire  de  la  Bible  ;  Easton,  Bible  Dictionary  ;  Fouard,  vol.  i,,  appendix 
viii.  ;  Hastings,  Dkt.  of  the  Bible,  art.  Bethesda. 

X  Cfr.  ViGouRoux,  Diction,  de  la  Bible  ;  Fouard.  i.,  appendix  viii. 


SECOND    year's   MINISTRY.  1 23 

timony  of  John  the  Baptist,  of  His  own  miraculous  works, 
and  even  of  the  writings  of  Moses,  their  great  law-giver. 

These  assertions  appeared  blasphemous  in  the  eyes  of 
"  the  Jews,"  and  they  determined  to  press  more  earnestly 
against  Jesus  the  capital  charge.  The  sacred  narrative  does 
not  state  whether  any  sentence  was  passed  against  Him  on 
this  occasion.  Yet  it  may  be  gathered  from  other  passages 
of  the  fourth  Gospel*  that  a  sentence  was  actually  passed, 
that  Jecus  was  publicly  banished  from  Judaea,  and  that  He 
would  be  seized  and  put  to  death  if  found  in  that  province. 

§  2.  Jesus  and  the  Twelve. 

I.  The  Twelve  Selected.  Banished  from  Judaea,  Our 
Lord  withdrew  to  the  safer  province  of  Galilee,  but  His 
actions  were  henceforth  closely  watched  by  His  enemies, 
especially  on  Sabbath  days.  \  The  miracles  of  healing  which 
He  performed  at  this  time  secured  to  Him,  however,  such 
popularity  that  His  enemies  could  not  carry  out  their  crim- 
inal designs  against  Him.  J 

Thus  freed  from  open  opposition,  yet  knowing  that  He 
should  continue  to  labor  but  a  short  time,  Our  Lord  made 
provision  for  carrying  on  His  work  in  a  more  extensive 
manner  during  His  mortal  life,  and  for  pursuing  it  after  His 
departure  by  the  selection  of  faithful  assistants  in  His  min- 
istry. §  With  this  object  in  view  St.  Luke  tells  us  that  "  He 
went  out  into  a  mountain  to  pray,  and  that  He  passed  the 
whole  night  in  the  prayer  of  God."  When  it  was  morning 
He  called  His  disciples  and  out  of  them  He  chose  twelve — 
a  number  which  occurs  with  significant  frequency  in  Holy 
Writ— and  named  them  His  apostles.  Seven  of  them  He 
had  already  especially  called  to  be  His  followers,  namely, 

•  Cfr.  John  vii.  1,  25-32. 

t  Cfr.  Matt.  xii.  1-14;  Mark  ii.  23— iii.  6;  Luke  vi.  i-ii. 

t  Cfr.  Mark  iii.  7-12  ;  Luke  vi.  17-19- 

§  Mark  iii.  13-19 ;  Luke  vi.  12-16 ;  cfr.  also  Matt.  x.  a-4. 


124  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

Andrew  and  Simon  his  brother  ;  James  and  John,  the  sons 
of  Zebedee  ;  Philip  and  Nathanael  or  Bartholomew  ;  and 
Levi  or  Matthew  the  publican.  To  these  He  now  added 
Thomas  or  Didymus  {a  twin)  ;  James  and  Jude,  the  sons 
of  Alpheus  ;  Simon  Chananeus  {zelotes)  ;  and  finally,  the 
only  apostle  from  Judaea  proper,  the  traitor  Judas  Iscariot 
(the  man  from  Kerioth).  * 

These  are  the  men  whom  Jesus  especially  called  to  wit- 
ness His  miracles,  to  profit  by  His  teachings,  to  help  Him 
in  His  ministry,  and  to  preserve  and  spread  His  religion. 
Apparently  they  had  little  to  recommend  them  to  His 
choice,  for  they  were  almost  all  uneducated,  without  wealth, 
social  rank,  and  personal  influence  ;  but  in  selecting  them 
Jesus  was  laying  the  basis  of  one  of  the  best  arguments  for 
the  divine  origin  of  Christianity,  namely,  that  the  world 
should  have  been  converted  by  means  of  so  few  and  so 
humble  instruments.  \ 

2.  Temporary  Mission  of  the  Twelve.  It  was  dur^- 
ing  one  of  His  missionary  journeys  through  Galilee  that 
Our  Lord  sent  His  chosen  twelve  on  a  temporary  mission. 
As  He  went  about  the  towns  and  villages.  He  was  moved 
with  compassion  at  the  forlorn  condition  of  their  inhabi- 
tants, who  "  were  distressed  and  lying  like  sheep  that  have  no 
shepherd."  He  therefore  resolved  to  send  to  them  in 
the  person  of  His  apostles,  men  entirely  devoted  to  their 
temporal  and  spiritual  welfare.  A  further  reason  for  this 
sending  forth  of  the  twelve  is  to  be  found  in  Christ's  de- 
sire to  prepare  for  the  ministry  in  a  more  practical  manner 
than  heretofore,  those  who  were  soon  to  be  the  continuators 
of  His  work.  For  more  than  a  year  the  apostles  had  con- 
templated in  the  Saviour  a  model  of  zeal  and  disinterested- 
ness which  they  were  to  reproduce  in  their  own  lives.  They 
had  seen  Him  work  the  most  convincing  miracles  in  proof 
of  His  divine  mission,  and  it  was  now  to  be  their  privilege 

*  Cfr.  FouARD,  vol.  i.,  pp.  246-258.  +Cfr,  i  CoR.  i.  37  sq. 


SECOND    YEARS   MINISTRY.  1 25 

to  wield  the  same  miraculous  powers  for  the  conversion  of 
their  brethren.  In  a  word,  the  sending  forth  of  the  twelve 
towards  the  end  of  Our  Lord's  second  year's  ministry  was 
to  be  for  the  apostles  a  real  initiation  into  their  future  min- 
istry, and  to  prove  beneficial  both  to  themselves  and  to  the 
sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel  to  whom  they  were  sent. 

Great  indeed  must  have  been  the  joy  of  the  twelve  when 
Jesus  gave  them  a  mission  practically  identical  with  His 
own,  sending  them  "  to  preach  the  kingdom  of  God "  ; 
when  He  imparted  to  them  powers  co-extensive  with  His 
own,  "  giving  them  power  over  unclean  spirits,  to  cast  them 
out,  and  to  heal  all  manner  of  diseases  and  all  manner  of 
infirmities."  True,  in  sending  them  forth  He  gave  them 
directions*  as  to  the  places  where  they  should  go,  the  man- 
ner in  which  they  should  use  their  powers,  etc.,  which  under 
other  circumstances  might  have  appeared  rather  severe;  but 
at  that  moment  they  were  only  too  willing  to  accept  them, 
and  they  set  off,  "  going  about  through  the  towns,  preaching 
the  gospel  and  healing  everywhere."! 

§  3.   Chrisfs  Public  Teaching, 

I.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  The  place  pointed 
out  by  tradition  as  the  scene  of  the  selection  of  the  twelve  is 
a  hill  on  the  road  from  Tiberias  to  Nazareth,  and  called  from 
its  peculiar  shape  "the  Horns  of  Hattin."  After  having 
chosen  His  apostles  Our  Saviour  descended  with  them  from 
the  mountain  peak  to  a  more  level  spot.J;  and  sitting  down 
in  the  formal  attitude  of  a  teacher,  He  delivered  His  dis- 
course so  well  known  under  the  name  of  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount.§     His  immediate  audience  was  indeed  made 

*  It  is  probable  that  the  recommendations  recorded  by  St.  Matthew  (chap.  x. 
16  sq.),  m  connection  with  this  temporary  mission  of  the  twelve,  were  made  by  Our 
Lord  only  at  a  later  period  (cfr.  Luke  xii.  2  sq). 

t  Cfr.  Matt,  x;  Mark  vi.  7-13;  Luke  ix.  1-6. 

X  Luke  vi.  17. 

S  Matt,  v-vii;  Lukb  vi.  20-40. 


126  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

up  of  His  apostles  and  disciples,  and  of  the  great  multitudes 
that  had  gathered  around  Him.  But  He  also  spoke  for 
future  generations,  describing  a  kingdom  and  a  blessedness 
very  different  from  those  which  His  contemporaries  ex- 
pected, and  laying  down  the  Christian  form  of  life  for  all 
ages. 

This  discourse  of  Jesus,  so  exalted  in  its  teachings  and  so 
authoritative  in  its  tone,  filled  the  multitude  with  admira- 
tion,* and  will  ever  exercise  the  deepest  influence  upon  the 
readers  of  the  Gospel. 

2.  Teaching  in  Parables.  Instead  of  this  formal 
manner  of  teaching  the  people  at  large,  Our  Lord  substi- 
tuted soon  afterwards  another  no  less  in  harmony  with  the 
Oriental  mind  of  His  hearers,  which  has  ever  been  fond  of 
mystic  and  figurative  language.  Parables,  to  which  He  now 
resorted  as  a  means  of  conveying  His  doctrine,  were  stories 
describing  events  of  common  occurrence  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  suggest  to  reflecting  and  well-disposed  minds  truths  of 
the  spiritual  order.  Jesus  used  them  freely  henceforward, 
because  on  the  one  hand  the  time  had  come  when  He 
should  make  known  to  the  Jews  the  true  nature  and  princi- 
pal features  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  on  the  other  hand 
their  national  prejudices  and  Messianic  misconceptions  did 
not  allow  Him  to  speak  too  plainly. 

There  is  hardly  any  doubt  that  in  delivering  His  parables 
Christ  intended  to  correct  gradually  the  false  notions  of 
His  hearers  respecting  the  kingdom  of  God,f  and  that  in 
each  parable  He  suggested  mainly  one  feature  of  this  same 
kingdom.  His  principal  teachings  in  this  respect  may  be 
briefly  summed  up  as  follows  :X 

The  kingdom  which  the  Jews  should  expect  is  the  king- 
dom of  God  in  its  modest,  secret,  and  as  it  were,  insignifi- 

♦  Matt.  vii.  28,  29. 

t  Cfr.,  for  instance,  Mark  xii.  12;  Luke  xix.  ii. 

t  Cfr.  Bruch,  The  Kingdom  of  God;  Briggs,  The  Messiah  of  the  Gospels. 


SECOND    year's   ministry.  I27 

cant  origin.  It  is  submitted  to  the  laws  of  organic  growth 
as  all  living  things  are,  and  hence  its  planting  and  early 
developments  do  not  attract  much  attention  ;  but  it  is  not 
so  with  its  further  extension,  destined  as  it  is  to  pervade 
and  transform  the  whole  world.  * 

The  real  worth  of  this  kingdom  is  that  of  a  hidden  treas- 
ure and  of  a  precious  pearl,t  which  if  even  accidentally 
found  must  be  preferred  to  all  things  else.  This  kingdom 
is  indeed  rejected  by  those  who,  like  the  men  invited  to  the 
marriage  feast,J  or  the  two  sons  spoken  of  in  the  parable  in 
St.  Matthew  (xxi.  28-32),  had  the  first  claim  to  its  possession 
and  apparently  were  best  qualified  for  entering  into  it;  but 
all  those  who  earnestly  avail  themselves  of  the  invitation  of 
the  Gospel  will  be  admitted.  As  long  as  God's  kingdom 
exists  in  this  world  it  is  necessarily  composed  of  good  and 
bad  men,  so  that  the  certain  separation  between  them  must 
be  postponed  to  the  end  of  time.§ 

This  is  really  a  new  kingdom  of  God  with  a  new  nation 
and  a  new  set  of  rulers  (as  is  taught  in  the  parable  of  the 
wicked  husbandmen),]  although  it  is  no  less  truly  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  kingdom  of  God  under  the  Old  Covenant. 
Once  this  kingdom  is  organized  upon  earth,  the  King  goes  to 
a  far  country,  relying  upon  His  representatives  to  be  more 
faithful  than  the  rulers  of  the  old  kingdom,  and  expecting 
that  all  His  servants  shall  bear  fruits  proportionate  to  their 
several  trusts,  else  each  and  all  will  be  visited,  as  were  the 
unfaithful  rulers  and  subjects  of  the  old  kingdom,  with  meet 
punishment.^ 

At  the  return  of  this  King  this  kingdom  of  grace  will  be 
transformed  into  a  kingdom  of  glory,  when  all  trials  here 

*  Cfr.  Matt.  xdii.  1-23,  and  parallel  passages;  Mark  iv.  26-29;  Matt.  xiii.  31-3^ 
and  parallel  passages, 
t  Matt.  xiii.  44-46.  $  M.att.  xxii.  1-14. 

S  Parables  of  the  Cockle  and  the  Drag  Net,  Matt.  xiii.  24-30,  47-50. 
I  Matt.  xxi.  33-43. 
t  Matt.  xxiv.  4S-S'>  and  Lvkk  xii.  41-46;  Matt.  xxv.  14-30;  LtncB  xix.  11-37,  etc. 


128  OUTLINES   OF   NEW   TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

below  will  be  at  an  end,  but  as  the  day  and  hour  of  this 
second  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  remains  one  of  the  divine 
secrets,  the  duty  most  pressing  upon  all  is  that  of  constant 
watchfulness.*  Finally,  the  duration  of  this  kingdom  on 
earth  will  outlive  the  ruin  of  the  Holy  City  and  of  its  Tem- 
ple. It  will  be  coextensive  with  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel 
to  all  nations,  and  this,  when  accomplished,  will  be  an  un- 
questionable sign  of  its  near  approach.f 

3.  The  Discourse  in  the  Synagogue  of  Caphar- 
naum.t  Of  course,  it  should  not  be  supposed  that  Jesus 
never  addressed  His  hearers  otherwise  than  in  parables. 
Although  this  formed  His  chief  means  of  teaching  the 
people  during  the  second  year — as  well  as  during  the  last 
year — of  His  public  ministry,  yet  He  did  at  times  deliver 
public  addresses,  one  of  which  has  been  preserved  to  us  in 
the  sixth  chapter  of  St.  John's  Gospel. 

It  was  in  the  synagogue  of  Capharnaum  and  under  pecu- 
liar circumstances  that  Jesus  addressed  this  important  dis- 
course to  the  Galilean  multitudes.  For  a  full  year  their 
devotion  to  Him  had  been  steadily  growing,  and  they  had 
recently  wished  "to  take  Him  by  force  and  make  Him 
King."§  Their  hopes  of  a  temporal  kingdom  had  now 
reached  their  highest  point,  and  when  Our  Lord  entered  the 
synagogue  of  Capharnaum  on  this  memorable  occasion,  they 
were  confident  that  He  was  at  length  to  proclaim  Himself 
the  Messias  and  start  at  once  His  glorious  rule.  In  the 
midst  of  such  high-strung  but  mistaken  hopes,  Jesus  saw  that 
the  time  had  come  when  He  should  make  known  in  explicit 
terms  the  true  nature  of  the  kingdom  He  had  come  to  found. 
He  therefore  declared  openly  that  the  object  of  His  mission 
was  not  to  confer  temporal,  but  rather  spiritual,  benefits,  and 
that  to  secure  to  themselves  these  invaluable  blessings.  His 
hearers  should  believe  in  Him  and  in  His  heavenly  descent. 

*  Matt,  xxv  1-13.  +  Cfr.  Matt.  xxiv.  3-36,  and  parallel  passages. 

i  John  vi.  §  John  vi.  15. 


SECOND  year's   ministry.  1 29 

Great  was  the  astonishment  of  the  Jews  at  words  so  un- 
expected. Many  among  them  even  murmured,  saying,  "  Is 
not  this  Jesus  the  son  of  Joseph,  whose  father  and  mother 
we  know?  How  then  saith  He,  I  came  down  from 
heaven  ?  "  This,  however,  was  but  a  prelude  both  to  the 
announcement  which  Jesus  proceeded  to  make,  and  to  the 
scandal  it  occasioned.  He  declared  repeatedly  to  His 
hearers  the  necessity  under  which  they  all  were  "  to  eat  His 
flesh  and  drink  His  blood  to  have  life  in  them,"  and  this 
statement  so  greatly  shocked  several  of  those  who  had  up 
to  this  time  faithfully  followed  Him,  that  they  exclaimed  : 
**  This  saying  is  hard,  and  who  can  hear  it  ?  "  In  vain  did 
Jesus  insist  upon  the  necessity  of  faith  in  His  words  ;  His 
endeavors  to  banish  from  their  minds  the  unbearable 
thought  that  He  required  of  them  the  inhuman  practice  of 
cannibalism  were  likewise  fruitless.  "  Many  of  His  disciples 
went  back  and  walked  no  more  with  Him."  But  the 
twelve  remained  faithful  through  all,  and  Peter  undoubt- 
edly gave  expression  to  their  unflinching  loyalty  to  their 
Master  when  he  exclaimed  :  "  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go  ? 
Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life.  And  we  have  believed 
and  have  known  that  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God." 

§  4.  Chrisfs  Growing  Influence  in  Galilee. 

I.  Principal  Causes  of  Christ's  Influence  in  Galilee. 

The  second  year  of  Our  Lord's  public  ministry  has  justly 
been  called  the  year  of  "public  favor."  Hardly  had  He 
returned  to  Galilee  from  the  Passover  when  He  performed 
miracles  of  healing  which  won  for  Him  the  admiration  and 
gratitude  of  multitudes  from  all  parts  of  the  country,*  and 
throughout  the  year  wonders  of  the  most  stupendous  kind 
kept  the  attention  of  the  people  fixed  upon  Him.  For  cen- 
turies no  miraculous  deeds  had  been  wrought  in  Israel,  and 

♦  Matt.  iv.  as. 


130  OUTLINES   OF    NEW   TESTAMENT   HISTORY, 

the  Galileans  naturally  felt  proud  that   the  wonder-workei 

was  their  fellow  countryman.  Further,  in  the  eyes  of  many, 
both  in  and  out  of  Galilee,  miracles  so  numerous,  so  easily 
performed,  denoted  not  only  the  prophetical,  but  even  the 
Messianic,  character  of  their  author. 

Besides  this  first — and  indeed  greatest — cause  of  the 
growing  influence  of  Jesus  in  Galilee,  several  others  may 
be  mentioned  here.  There  was,  for  instance,  His  power  of 
speech,  His  words  having  ever  a  special  grace  and  author- 
ity. There  were  also  His  well-known  compassion  for  the 
weak,  the  poor,  the  sinners,  and  His  constant  readiness  to 
relieve  the  misery  and  sufferings  of  all  around  Him  ;  He 
was  meek  and  lowly  of  heart,  and  this  attracted  powerfully 
the  affection  of  all  those  who  had  hitherto  been  looked  upon 
with  contempt  by  their  teachers.  Again,  the  slanderous 
reports,  artfully  started  and  studiously  spread  about  by 
Christ's  enemies,  contributed  in  their  manner  to  increase 
His  favor  with  the  people  at  large.  The  real  character  of 
many  of  these  calumnious  charges  was  at  times  so  evident 
that  no  one  was  deceived,  while  at  other  times  those  who 
had  been  first  misled  soon  recognized  their  error ;  with  the 
final  result  in  both  cases  that  through  a  reaction  against 
the  malice  of  His  enemies,  the  popular  attachment  to  Jesus 
grew  gradually  stronger  and  deeper.  Finally,  it  should  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  Jews  of  Galilee  were,  much  less 
than  those  of  the  south,  under  the  direct  and  all-powerful 
sway  of  the  Pharisees  and  other  enemies  of  Christ,  while 
many  of  the  leading  men  and  women,  especially  of  Caphar- 
naum  were  His  declared  friends. 

2.  Christ's  Influence  at  its  Climax  towards  the 
End  of  Second  Year's  Ministry.  These  and  other  such 
causes  contributed  powerfully  towards  securing  to  Jesus  an 
ever-growing  influence  in  the  northern  province  of  Galilee. 
This  steady  growth  of  His  favor  with  the  people  during 
His  second  year's  ministry  is  particularly  noticeable  in  the 


SECOND    year's   MINISTRY.  I3I 

Gospel  narrative  in  connection  with  the  miracles  recorded. 
At  first  His  miracles  of  healing  attracted  to  Our  Lord  large 
multitudes,  not  only  from  Galilee  and  Judaea,  but  also  from 
Idumaea,  Decapolis,  and  the  region  about  Tyre  and  Sidon.* 
The  raising,  a  little  later,  of  the  widow's  son  at  Naim — a 
town  on  the  northwestern  slope  of  Little  Hermon  and  about 
25  miles  southwest  of  Capharnaum — produced  the  deepest 
impression  upon  the  spectators,  who  proclaimed  and  spread 
far  and  wide  their  belief  that  Jesus  was  "  a  great  prophet " 
truly  sent  by  God.f  Other  miracles,  hardly  less  astonishing, 
gradually  led  the  multitudes  to  wonder  whether  He  was  not 
"  the  Son  of  David,"  J  and  next  to  proclaim  Him  as  such, 
regardless  of  the  well-known  opposition  of  the  Pharisees. § 
A  little  later  the  twelve  were  sent  on  a  temporary  mission. 
Being  endowed  with  miraculous  powers  similar  to  those  of 
their  Master,  and  going  two  by  two  through  the  different 
towns  of  Galilee,  they  spread  His  doctrine  very  rapidly  in 
remote  places,  and  secured  for  it  such  publicity  that  Our 
Lord's  fame  now  reached  Herod  for  the  first  time.  Finally, 
at  the  approach  of  the  Paschal  festival,  two  great  events 
carried  to  its  climax  the  hitherto  growing  influence  of  Christ 
in  Galilee.  The  first  was  His  feeding  of  5000  men  with 
five  loaves  and  two  fishes ;  this  miracle  aroused  the 
grateful  enthusiasm  of  the  multitudes  to  such  an  extent 
that  they  strove  "to  make  Him  king."  The  second,  which 
became  known  to  them  the  next  morning,  was  His  miracu- 
lous walking  upon  the  sea.  The  news  of  this  last  miracle 
caused  the  people  to  be  so  fully  persuaded  of  a  very  near 
establishment  of  a  worldly  kingdom  by  Jesus,  that  He 
deemed  it  necessary  to  deal  a  death-blow  to  all  their 
earthly  expectations  by  His  public  discourse  in  the  syna- 
gogue of  Capharnaum,  a  summary  of  which  has  been  given 
above. 

•  Matt.  iv.  3$.         t  LuiCB  vii.  11-18.        t  Matt.  xiL  23.         $  Matt.  ix.  aj  sq. 


SYNOPSIS   OF   CHAPTER  XI. 

First  Part  of  Third  Year's  Ministry. 
(April— October  29  A.D.) 


Section  I.  Jesus  and  His  Enemies, 


'  1.  This   Opposition    can  be  Accounted   for    in 

Various  Ways. 
2.  They  Resorted  to  all  Kinds  of  Means  to  Un- 
dermine His  Authority. 


I. 


Opposition  of 
Our  Lord's  ' 
Enemies. 


They  are  now 
Fiercer  against 
Him  because 
of 


'Christ's  repeated  public 
censures  of  their  doc- 
trine and  practices. 
News  of  His  wonderful 
success  and  widespread 
fame. 
Diminution  at  last  of  His 
popular  favor. 


II. 

How  Jesus  met 
THE  Opposi- 
tion OF  His 
Enemies. 


The  Ope 
Rupture 


The  aggressive  words  of  Jesus. 


2.  Travels 
through 

the 
Northern 
Regions: 


The  occasion. 

The  aggressive  wu»ua  wi  jcouo 

Fierce  resentment  of  the  Jews. 

1.  The   Territory   of 

Tyre  and  Sidon. 

2.  The  Decapolis. 

3.  Magdala     and 

Bethsaida. 

4.  District  of  Caesarea 

Philippi. 


Principal 

incidents 
recorded. 


133 


CHAPTER   XI. 

FIRST   PART   OF   THIRD   YEAR's    MINISTRY, 
(April-October  29  a.d.) 

Section  I.     Jesus  and  His  Enemies. 
§  I.     The  Opposition  of  Our  Lord's  Enemies. 

I.  The  Opposition  can  be  Accounted  for  in  Various 
Ways.  The  active  ministry  of  Jesus  in  Galilee  was  practi- 
cally brought  to  a  close  with  His  discourse  in  Capharnaum.* 
During  two  years  "He  had  gone  about  doing  good  and 
healing  all  that  were  oppressed  by  the  Devil,"  and  had 
thereby  given  to  all  manifest  proofs  that  "  God  was  with 
Him."  t  Yet,  far  from  recognizing  the  divine  character 
of  His  mission,  the  Jewish  leaders  had  constantly  opposed 
Him,  and  in  a  short  while  they  will  "  through  ignor- 
ance "  X  put  to  death  the  "  Lord  of  glory."  § 

Of  course  their  opposition  and  ignorance  were  criminal, 
yet  they  may  be  accounted  for  in  various  ways.  From 
infancy  they  had  been  taught  to  consider  the  Sabbath  as  a 
most  sacred  day,  and  in  the  schools  they  had  learned  to  set 
the  traditions  of  the  elders  on  a  par  with  the  revealed  Law 
of  Moses.  These  views  they  had  taught  and  enforced  upon 
others,  and  all  Jews,  whatever  their  political  and  religious 
tenets,  strictly  acted  upon  them  in  their  daily  life.  Jesus, 
on  the  contrary,  had  repeatedly  dared  to  violate  public 
statutes  on  the  Sabbath  and  to  take  no  account  of  traditions 
which  the  whole  nation  regarded  as  sacred,  and  of  which 
the  Jewish  leaders  were  the  watchful  guardians.     Again,  the 

♦  John  vi.  t  Acts  x.  38 ;  John  iii.  *.  %  Acts  iii.  17.  }  i  Cok.  it  8. 

133 


134  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

Jewish  officials  were  considered  by  the  people  at  large  as 
models  of  holy  living,  because  of  their  strict  compliance 
with  the  least  enactments  of  the  Mosaic  law  and  because  of 
their  long  prayers,  rigorous  fasts,  and  liberal  alms;  and  hence 
they  received  from  all  the  highest  marks  of  honor  and 
respect  in  the  market-places  or  in  the  synagogues.  But 
far  from  paying  them  this  tribute  which  flattered  their 
vanity,  Our  Lord  had  solemnly  condemned  their  religious 
practices  as  unwelcome  to  God  because  tainted  with  pride 
and  hypocrisy,  and  quite  lately  He  had  called  them  a 
generation  of  vipers  and  pronounced  them  guilty  of  an 
irremissible  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Spirit.  If  only 
the  people  had  let  Jesus  alone,  and  had  not  crowded  in 
the  synagogues  to  hear  Him,  and  had  not  followed  Him 
in  the  streets  and  in  the  fields  anxious  to  listen  to  His 
exalted  teachings  and  believing  in  His  miraculous  power, 
the  leaders  of  the  Jewish  nation  would  not  have  taken  the 
trouble  to  pursue  Him  with  their  opposition.  But  every 
increase  of  His  popularity  had  been  a  decrease  of  their 
own ;  indeed,  in  every  conflict  the  multitude  had  sided 
with  Him,  and  in  every  defeat  of  His  adversaries  they  had 
rejoiced ;  in  short,  His  success  was  His  greatest  crime. 

And  after  all,  who  was  He  thus  to  stand  in  successful 
opposition  to  them  ?  In  their  eyes  He  was  but  a  Galilean 
peasant,  a  poor  carpenter  of  Nazareth,  an  uneducated  rabbi 
who  surrounded  Himself  with  poor  fishermen,  and  won 
popular  favor  by  welcoming  the  lowest  elements  of  society, 
for  He  was  "  the  friend  of  sinners  and  of  publicans. '*  Evi- 
dently such  a  one  could  not  be,  was  not,  the  great  and  holy 
King  they  expected  as  the  political  restorer  of  their  nation. 
The  pretensions  of  Jesus  were  lofty  indeed  ;  He  claimed  an 
authority  superior  to  that  of  the  elders,  and  apparently  to  that 
of  Moses  himself.  He  assumed  a  power  over  the  Temple 
of  God,  made  Himself  equal  to  the  Almighty,  claimed  to  be 
the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath,  and  very  recently  He  had  assumed 


FIRST    PART    OF    THIRD    YEAR'S   MINISTRY.  135 

the  divine  power  of  remitting  sins.  But  twice,  at  least,  He 
had  denied  to  the  lawful  judges  of  His  claims,  the  great 
sign  which  the  Messias  was  to  give  at  His  coming.  The 
testimony  of  John  the  Baptist  which  He  appealed  to  either 
did  not  refer  to  Him,  or  John  was  mistaken,  for  according 
to  them  no  prophet  could  come  from  Nazareth.  In  their 
eyes,  therefore,  Jesus  was  but  a  bold  deceiver  of  the  peo- 
ple, whom  He  strove  to  withdraw  from  their  lawful  teachers 
and  leaders,  and  to  whom  He  taught  a  lax  morality,  inas- 
much as  by  His  free  intercourse  with  sinners  and  publicans 
He  obviously  aimed  at  destroying  all  moral  as  well  as  all  so- 
cial distinctions.  He  was  but  a  false  prophet,  such  as  Moses 
described  long  centuries  before ;  *  for  by  teaching  men  not 
to  mind  observances  which  the  Jews  thought  necessary  for 
the  faithful  discharge  of  the  divine  commands,  and  by  ar- 
rogating to  Himself  the  divine  nature  and  powers.  He  mani- 
festly tended  to  withdraw  men  from  the  pure  worship  of 
Jehovah,  from  the  primary  belief  of  the  Jewish  religion, 
namely,  the  belief  in  one  only  God.  His  miraculous  powers, 
they  concluded,  were  not  credentials  of  a  divine  mission, 
but  rather  proofs  of  a  league  with  the  Evil  One,  like  that  of 
the  magicians  of  Pharaoh,  who  performed  wonders  in  their 
opposition  to  Moses.f 

2.  Means  Used  to  Undermine  Our  Lord's  Au- 
thority. These  are  some  of  the  grounds  on  which  Our 
Lord's  enemies  based  their  opposition,  and  in  such  frame 
of  mind  they  naturally  thought  it  lawful  to  resort  to  every 
means  to  undermine  His  authority.  They  secretly  plotted 
against  Him,  striving  to  win  over  to  their  views  their  very 
political  opponents,  the  Herodians.  Then  they  waited 
until  some  imprudence  on  His  part,  or  the  fickleness  of  the 
people,  should  place  Him  in  their  power.  During  the  full  flush 
of  His  popularity  they  had  to  be  satisfied  with  recalling  His 
lowly  birth  at  Nazareth,  and  with  pushing  His  friends  to 

•  Dbut.  xviii  t  ExoD.  vii.  sq 


136  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

treat  Him  publicly  as  one  out  of  His  senses.  At  the  same 
time,  they  entertained  an  active  correspondence  with  the 
Pharisees  who  were  at  Jerusalem,  and  when  re-enforced  by 
a  deputation  from  the  latter,  they  ventured  to  accuse  Him 
of  a  league  with  Beelzebub.  But  in  spite  of  all  their  efforts. 
His  prudence  had  been  such  as  not  to  leave  them  a  single 
tangible  ground  for  accusation,  and  His  popularity  had  been 
steadily  increasing,  until,  after  the  death  of  John  the  Bap- 
tist, His  favor  with  the  people  reached  its  climax  in  Galilee, 
as  we  saw  at  the  end  of  the  preceding  chapter. 

3.  The  Opposition  Now  Fiercer  Against  Jesus. 
But  the  longer  their  opposition  had  been  kept  down  and  the 
greater  His  influence  over  the  people  had  become,  the  more 
also  the  diminution  of  their  own  power  with  the  multitudes 
and  their  wounded  pride  imperatively  required  that  they 
should  as  soon  as  possible  take  a  signal  revenge  upon  His 
public  and  repeated  censures  of  their  teachings  and  prac- 
tices. 

When,  therefore,  they  left  Galilee  for  Jerusalem  on  the 
occasion  of  the  third  Pasch  of  Our  Lord's  ministry,  they 
naturally  reported  to  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  of  Judaea 
all  that  had  taken  place  during  the  last  month  :  how  His 
ever-growing  success  had  long  reduced  to  naught  all  their 
efforts,  and  how  His  fame  had  finally  reached  Herod  him- 
self. But  they  also  added  how  Jesus  having  refused  the 
royal  diadem  offered  Him  by  the  enthusiastic  people,  they 
had  finally  betrayed  Him  into  a  public  declaration  equiva- 
lent in  the  eyes  of  all  to  a  denial  of  the  Messianic  dignity. 
Many  of  His  disciples  had  in  consequence  forsaken  Him, 
and  only  a  handful  of  followers  still  clung  to  Him.  Now, 
then,  was  the  time  to  turn  against  Him  all  the  national  ex- 
pectations of  the  people.  This  the  Jewish  leaders  under- 
stood, and  the  Paschal  celebration  *  was  hardly  over  when 
they  sent  a  new  deputation  of  Scribes  into  Galilee  to  watch 

*  John  vi.  4. 


FIRST    PART    OF   THIRD    YEAR'S   MINISTRY.  I37 

and  oppose  Him,  and  probably  also  to  bring  about  a  close 
alliance  with  the  Herodians  against  Jesus. 

The  third  year's  ministry  of  Our  Lord  opened,  therefore, 
with  a  fierce  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  Jewish  leaders,  and 
we  must  now  study  how  Jesus  met  their  efforts  against  Him. 

§  2.  How  Jesus  met  the  Opposition  of  His  Enemies. 

I.  The  Open  Rupture.  Arrived  at  Capharnaum,  the 
Scribes  who  had  been  deputed  by  the  authorities  of  Judaea, 
soon  noticed  that  Our  Lord's  disciples  did  not  practise  the 
washing  of  hands  after  the  traditionally  prescribed  manner 
before  meals  ;  accordingly  they  remonstrated  with  Jesus  for 
not  training  well  His  disciples.  In  the  eyes  of  these  emis- 
saries this  was  a  grave  neglect  of  one  of  the  most  sacred  **  tra- 
ditions of  the  elders,"  with  which  "  all  the  Jews  "  complied 
and  which  had  just  been  re-enacted  in  the  form  of  an  abso- 
lutely unchangeable  decree.*  Without  stopping  to  vindi- 
cate His  disciples,  Jesus  called  the  Scribes  "  hypocrites  " 
whose  only  concern  was  about  outward  demonstrations  of 
piety,  without  any  concern  about  inward  devotion  to  God. 
He  went  farther  still,  and  charged  them  with  setting  aside 
the  clearest  and  most  important  commandments  of  God  by 
means  of  their  human  traditions.  He  next  endeavored  to 
teach  the  multitude  one  of  those  great  truths  so  much  lost 
sight  of  at  the  time  :  true  defilement  does  not  proceed  from 
the  outside,  but  from  the  evil  desires  and  passions  of  the 
heart. 

These  words  of  Our  Lord,  which  were  a  heavy  but  neces- 
sary blow  against  merely  human  and  misleading  traditions, 
gave  so  great  offence  to  the  Scribes,  that  the  disciples  of 
Jesus  were  afraid  of  the  possible  consequences  of  their  re- 
sentment ;  but  the  calm  and  significant  words  of  Jesus 
quieted  these  fears  of  His  disciples. f 

*  Edbrshhim,  vol.  ii.,  p.  9  sq.;  Fouard,  vol.  ii.,  p.  6  sq. 
t  Matt,  xv.  1-20;  Mark  vii.  1-23.       ^ 


138  OUTLINES  OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

Several  features  of  Our  Lord's  reply  to  the  Scribes  deserve 
especial  attention.  On  the  one  hand,  He  not  only  rebuked 
them  for  their  hypocrisy,  as  He  had  repeatedly  done  in  the 
past,  but  He  pronounced  a  wholesale  condemnation  against 
their  traditions,  and  taught  the  people  a  doctrine  absolutely 
opposed  to  theirs  on  a  point  which  they  considered  of  the 
utmost  importance.  On  the  other  hand,  His  enemies  re- 
sented openly  His  conduct,  and,  apparently  for  the  first  time 
in  Galilee,  threatened  to  use  violence  against  Him  and  His 
disciples.  In  a  word,  we  are  in  presence  of  a  direct  attack 
on  His  enemies  by  Our  Lord,  and  of  an  open  rupture  be- 
tween Him  and  the  Jewish  leaders. 

2.  Travels  through  the  Northern  Regions.  Our 
Lord's  time,  however,  to  face  His  opponents  resolutely  and 
to  the  end,  though  not  far  away,  had  not  yet  fully  come. 
Accordingly,  we  shall  soon  hear  Him  recommending  silence, 
both  to  His  disciples  and  to  those  whom  He  healed  ;  and 
as  He  had  already  avoided  going  to  Jerusalem  for  the  third 
Pasch  of  His  ministry,  so  He  now  avoids  moving  through 
Galilee  openly  as  before. 

He  therefore  turns  away  from  Central  Galilee  and  be- 
gins His  journeys  through  the  northern  regions.  He  was 
accompanied  by  the  twelve,  whom  it  was  His  purpose 
henceforth  to  train  in  a  special  manner  in  view  of  His  ap- 
proaching death.  For  this  purpose  also  He  sought  the 
greater  quiet  and  seclusion  of  the  heathen  territory  of 
Tyre.  "  But  He  could  not  be  hid,"  says  St.  Mark  ;  and 
after  healing  the  daughter  of  the  Syrophenician  woman  in 
answer  to  her  wonderful  faith.  He  left  that  region.*  Passing 
through  the  territory  of  Sidon,  Jesus  probably  proceeded 
along  the  Phenician  frontier  to  the  Jordan,  and  journeyed 
along  the  eastern  bank  of  that  river. f 

Thus  Our  Lord  reached  the  heathen  territory  of  the 
Decapolis — a  district  taking  its  name  from  ten  cities  and 

*  Matt.  xv.  21-1I ;  Mark  vii.  24-30.  t  Cfr.  Andrews,  pp.  334,  335. 


FIRST    PART    OF    THIRD    YEAR'S   MINISTRY.  1 39 

now  under  the  immediate  Roman  rule — where  He  healed, 
among  others,  a  "  deaf  and  dumb  man,"  enjoining  strict 
silence  upon  him  and  upon  his  friends.  But  His  injunction 
of  silence  was  not  heeded,  and  the  rumor  of  these  wonder- 
ful deeds  attracted  to  Him  ever-growing  multitudes.  They 
continued  three  days  with  Him,  beholding  His  miracles 
and  listening  to  His  discourses,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time, 
Jesus,  moved  with  compassion  upon  the  needs  of  the  4000 
men  before  Him,  fed  them  with  seven  loaves  and  a  few 
fishes.* 

After  this  second  miraculous  multiplication  of  loaves,f 
Our  Saviour  crossed  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  and  arrived  at 
Magdala.J  He  was  soon  met  by  Pharisees  and  Sadducees, 
now  combined  for  the  first  time  against  Him.  They  had 
come  to  tempt  Him  and  ask  Him  for  a  sign  from  heaven. 
He  reproved  tl^eir  hypocrisy  and  affirmed  that  no  sign  would 
be  given  them  except  the  sign  of  the  prophet  Jonas.  He 
therefore  left  them  and  went  across  the  lake  towards  Beth- 
saida,  probably  situated  at  the  point  where  the  Jordan  flows 
into  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  warning  His  disciples  during  the 
voyage  against  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  and  the  Sad- 
ducees. §  Outside  the  city  of  Bethsaida  He  restored  the 
sight  to  a  blind  man  who  was  offered  to  Him,  and  sent  him 
home  with  the  order  not  to  spread  the  rumor  of  the  miracle. || 

From  Bethsaida  Jesus  probably  directed  His  steps  north- 
ward and  reached  the  region  of  Caesarea  Philippi,  where, 
on  one  important  occasion,^  He  asked  His  apostles,  "  Whom 
do  men  say  that  I  am  ? "  In  their  answer  the  disciples 
gave  the  opinions  which  were  then  most  current  among  the 
Galileans,  and  which  amounted  to  this  :  "  Men  generally 
look  upon  Thee  as  one  of  the  forerunners  of  the  Messias." 
But    Jesus   continued,   ''Whom   do  you  say  that  I  am?" 

*  Matt.  xv.  29-38;  Mark  vii.  31 ;  viii.  g.  t  Cfr.  Mark  viii.  19. 

X  Matt.  iv.  39.  §  Matt.  xvi.  1-12;  Mark  viii.  10-21.         ||  Mark  viii.  22-36. 

Y  See  Maclbar,  A  Class-Book  of  New  Testament  History,  p.  v%. 


14©  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

Simon  Peter  answered  in  the  name  of  all,  "  Thou  art  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God." 

Ecclesiastical  writers  have  ever  seen  in  this  confession  of 
Peter  a  distinct  acknowledgment  of  Our  Lord's  Messiahship 
and  divine  nature,  and  have  ever  considered  as  a  return  for 
it,  the  promise  of  Jesus  to  make  him  the  foundation  of  His 
Church,  to  constitute  him  the  supreme  steward  of  this  im- 
mortal edifice,  with  full  powers  of  binding  and  loosing  in 
His  kingdom.  At  the  same  time,  our  divine  Saviour  com- 
manded His  disciples  that   *'  they   should   tell  this   to   no 


man."  * 


*  Matt.  xvi.  '%n2o;  Mark  viii.  27-30;  LuKfiix.  18-21. 


SYNOPSIS   OF   CHAPTER  XII. 

First  Part  of  Third  Year's  Ministry. 
(April— October  29  a.d.) 


Section  II.  Jesus  and  His  Disciples, 


I. 

Condition 
OF  Mind 
OF  Our 

Lord's  Dis- 
ciples: 


At  the 
ning: 


Be- 


All  the  Jewish  Prejudices  in  pos- 
session of  their  minds. 
Without  any  Personal  Ambition. 


2.  Conclusions 
now  Reached: 


3.  Remaining 
Misconcep- 
tions as  to 


Firm  Belief  that 
Jesus,  their 
Master,  is  the 
Messias: 


Christ,  the 
Son  of  the 
Living 
God." 


Hope  of  a  Great  Future  as  a  Rec- 
ompense for  having  left  every- 
thing to  follow  Him. 

The  Nature  of  the  Kingdom  of 
the  Messias. 

r  Its  Establish- 
The  Conditions  I      ment. 
required  for     |  Its  Member- 
L     ship. 


II. 

The  Train- 
ing OF  THE 
Twelve  by 
Our  Lord: 


I.    Before   the  (  In  Public. 
Transfigu-K 
ration:         (  In  Private. 


2.  The  Transfiguration  (Time.  Place,  Object). 

3.  After      the  (Renewed      Predictions     of     His 

Transfigu-  \     Death. 

ration:         (More  direct  Moral  Lessons. 

141 


CHAPTER   XII. 

FIRST    PART    OF    THIRD   YEAr's   MINISTRY, 
(April — October  29  a.d.) 

Section  II.  Jesus  and  His  Disciples. 

§  I.  Condition  of  Mind  of  Our  Lord's  Disciples. 

I.   Their  Frame  of  Mind  at  the  Beginning.    Up 

to  the  time  of  their  selection  by  Our  Lord,  the  twelve  nat- 
urally shared  all  the  prejudices  of  their  contemporaries  con- 
cerning the  person  and  work  of  the  Messias.  At  home, 
and  more  particularly  in  the  schools  where  they  had  studied 
the  traditions  and  history  of  their  nation,  they  had  learned 
to  derive  comfort  in  the  present  misfortunes  of  the  Jewish 
race,  from  the  glorious  prospect  that  a  mighty  Son  of  David 
should  soon  appear  to  drive  the  foreigner  from  the  land  of 
Jehovah  and  introduce  a  world-wide  empire  with  Jerusalem 
for  its  capital.  As  all  the  faithful  Jews  of  the  time,  they  were 
under  the  constant  influence  of  the  Scribes  and  the  Phari- 
sees, whose  Messianic  dreams  are  well  known,  and  who  felt 
in  duty  bound  to  keep  alive  among  their  fellow  countrymen 
the  hope  of  a  worldly  restorer  of  the  Jewish  theocracy. 
No  wonder,  then,  that  the  frame  of  mind  of  the  disciples 
constituted  from  the  very  beginning  the  chief  obstacle  to 
their  proper  training  by  Our  Lord. 

It  does  not  seem,  however,  that  for  a  long  time  after 
their  first  call  the  Messianic  misconceptions  of  the  disciples 
led  them  to  aspire  after  high  positions  in  a  Jewish  kingdom 
soon  to  be  set  up.     This  may  be  accounted  for,  to  a  large 

142 


FIRST    PART   OF    THIRD    VEAR'S   MINISTRY.  143 

extent,  by  the  consideration  of  their  lowly  station  in  life  and 
by  the  consciousness  of  their  own  defective  education.  But 
the  main  reason  is  probably  to  be  found  in  Our  Lord's  con- 
duct during  the  first  year  of  His  public  life.  At  first  His 
preaching  and  His  baptism  seemed  to  be  but  a  continuation 
of  those  of  His  holy  precursor.  His  miracles  soon  multi- 
plied and  were  indeed  astonishing,  but  they  apparently 
pointed  Him  out  simply  as  a  great  prophet,  who,  not  unlike 
Elias  of  old,  had  to  take  to  flight  in  order  to  escape  the 
fury  of  His  enemies.  Moreover,  He  had  never  laid  any 
public  claim  to  the  Messianic  dignity  during  that  same 
period  ;  nay,  more,  he  had  enjoined  strict  silence  upon  the 
evil  spirits  whom  he  expelled,  as  if  their  repeated  assertions 
that  He  was  the  Messias  were  untrue  and  misleading. 
Finally,  He  had  remained  a  poor  rabbi,  hardly  able  to  pro- 
vide for  His  own  sustenance  and  for  that  of  His  disciples. 
In  point  of  fact,  the  personal  ambition  of  Our  Lord's  disci- 
ples was  so  little  developed  during  long  months  after  their 
first  call,  that  they  did  not  hesitate  to  fall  back  upon  their 
former  avocation  as  fishermen  in  order  to  secure  their  own 
living,  and  that  it  is  only  long  after  their  second  call  that  we 
discover  in  the  Gospel  narrative  traces  of  their  hope  of  a 
glorious  reward  for  having  followed  Jesus. 

Of  course,  the  Gospels  do  not  afford  a  complete  picture 
of  the  frame  of  mind  of  Our  Lord's  disciples  during  their 
early  training.  It  may  be  safely  stated,  however,  that  had 
not  many  things  contributed,  if  not  to  shake,  at  least  to 
obscure,  their  belief  in  Our  Lord's  Messianic  dignity,  and 
thereby  long  prevented  them  from  conceiving  feelings  of 
personal  ambition,  their  aspirations  after  a  high  rank  in  the 
future  kingdom  of  their  Master  would  have  revealed  them- 
selves earlier  in  the  Gospel  narrative. 

2.  Conclusions  now  Reached  by  the  Disciples. 
The  second  year  of  Our  Lord's  ministry  was  marked  by  some 
important  changes  in  the  condition  of  mind  of  the  twelve. 


144  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY, 

In  spite  of  the  relentless  opposition  of  the  Jewish  leaders, 
of  the  obscure  teaching  in  parables  resorted  to  by  Jesus,  of 
His  twofold  refusal  to  give  the  expected  sign  of  His  Mes- 
siahship,  of  His  disregard  of  tradition  held  as  sacred  by  the 
people  at  large,  the  disciples  gradually  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  their  Master  was  indeed  the  expected  Messias. 
This  was  henceforth  a  settled  conviction  in  their  minds,  and 
when  a  general  desertion  followed  on  the  disappointment 
caused  by  Our  Lord's  discourse  in  the  synagogue  of  Caphar- 
naum,  St.  Peter  simply  expressed  their  intimate  thoughts 
during  the  past  months  in  his  ardent  reply  to  Jesus  :  "  Lord, 
to  whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal 
life.  And  we  have  believed  and  we  have  known  that  Thou 
art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God." 

That  these  words  of  Peter  were  no  mere  expressions  of 
a  transient  enthusiastic  belief  is  proved  by  his  later  repeti- 
tion of  them  in  the  district  of  Csesarea  Philippi.  Meantime 
the  Galilean  multitudes  had  in  large  numbers  come  to  think 
that  Jesus  was  not  the  Messias,  and  under  the  pressure  of 
the  fierce  opposition  of  His  enemies,  our  divine  Saviour 
had  withdrawn  from  Galilee  and  begun  almost  as  an  exile  a 
series  of  journeys  through  the  northern  regions,  so  that  the 
first  enthusiasm  of  the  future  prince  of  the  apostles  had 
ample  time  and  opportunities  to  vanish.  And  yet,  in 
answer  to  Our  Lord's  question,  *'  Whom  do  you  say  that  I 
am  ? "  he  repeated  with  the  same  earnest  conviction, 
"  Thou  art  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God."  * 

The  apostles  had  therefore,  by  this  time,  reached  a  firm 

*  Matt.  xvi.  i6.  The  reader  will  notice  that  in  the  parallel  passages,  St.  Peter's  con- 
fession is  sin>ply  recorded,  "  Thou  art  the  Christ  "  (Mark  viii.  29),  "  the  Christ 
OF  God"  (Luke  ix.  20),  and  that  even  in  Matt.  xvi.  20,  Our  Lord's  injunction 
is  to  the  effect  that  the  disciples  "should  tell  no  one  that  He  was  Jesus  thb 
Christ"  (cfr.  also  Luke  ix.  21).  So  that,  although  as  the  Fathers  tell  us,  St.  Peter's 
confession  expressed  his  own  belief  not  only  in  the  Messiahship  but  also  in  the  divinity 
of  his  Master,  yet  a  special  emphasis  is  manifestly  Ikid  in  the  Gospel  narrative  on  Our 
Lord's  Messianic  dignity:  and  this  is  why  we  represent  it  here  as  a  very  important 
conclusion  reached  by  the  disciples  of  Jesus  in  contrast  with  the  Galilean  multitudes 
which  had  recently  rejected  it 


FIRST    PART    OF    THIRD    YEARNS   MINISTRY.  14$ 

belief  in  the  Messiahship  of  their  Master,  and  although  He 
forbade  them  to  publish  that  "  He  was  Jesus  the  Christ,"  * 
He  took  opportunity  of  this  fresh  manifestation  of  their 
faith  in  Him  gradually  to  prepare  their  minds  for  His 
coming  passion  and  death,  f  This  was  all  the  more  neces- 
sary because  the  glorious  promise  which  Jesus  had  just 
made  to  St.  Peter,  that  He  would  give  him  all  the  privileges 
of  the  supreme  visible  head  of  the  Christian  Church,  was 
the  starting-point  in  the  minds  of  Our  Lord's  disciples  for 
the  hope  of  a  great  future  in  return  for  having  left  every- 
thing to  follow  Him.  This  hope  they  first  cherished  in 
secret ;  but  they  soon  "  disputed  among  themselves  which 
of  them  should  be  the  greatest "  J  in  the  future  kingdom  of 
their  Master,  and  at  length  Peter  ventured  to  put  to  Our 
Lord  this  direct  question,  which  expresses  so  well  their 
common  anticipation,  "  Behold,  we  have  left  all  things,  and 
have  followed  Thee  :  what,  therefore,  shall  we  have?"§ 

3.  Remaining  Misconceptions  of  the  Disciples. 
Henceforth  the  chosen  twelve  will  ever  look  upon  Jesus  as 
the  expected  Messias,  and  in  this  respect,  their  views  regard- 
ing Our  Saviour  were  very  different  from  those  of  the  multi- 
tudes which  will  soon  crowd  around  Him  again.  But  with 
their  contemporaries,  the  disciples  continued  to  cherish  the 
patriotic  dream  that  the  work  of  the  Messias — consequently 
of  Jesus  whom  they  recognized  as  such — would  consist  in 
the  restoration  of  the  Jewish  theocracy  in  an  unprecedented 
political  and  religious  splendor.  Jewish  history  and  tradi- 
tions had  taught  them  to  unite  inseparably  in  thought, 
church  and  state,  the  political  rule  and  the  religious  organ- 
ization, so  that  Our  Lord's  promise  to  found  His  Church 
implied  necessarily,  in  their  eyes,  both  the  renewal  of  the 
Jewish  religion  and  the  restoration  and  extension  of  the 
kingdom  of  Israel  under  the  rule  of  the  Messias,  the  greatest 
of  David's  sons.     This  was  of  course  a  capital  mistake,  but 

*  Matt.  xvi.  20.         t  Matt.  xvi.  21  sq.         t  Mark  ix.  33.        §  Matt.  xix.  27. 


146  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

it  had  taken  such  a  hold  of  the  mind  of  the  twelve  that^ 
despite  Our  Lord's  teachings  to  the  contrary,  the  disciples  of 
Jesus  never  doubted,  throughout  the  last  year  of  His  public 
ministry,  that  He  would  soon  set  up  an  earthly  kingdom. 
Indeed,  the  inspired  narrative  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
pictures  them  on  the  very  day  of  the  Ascension  clinging 
still  to  this  cherished  hope  with  a  tenacity  which  astonishes 
us  at  the  present  day,  and  which,  at  that  last  moment  of  His 
visible  intercourse  with  them,  led  Jesus  not  to  undeceive 
them.  * 

This,  then,  was  the  first  remaining  misconception  of  Our 
Lord's  disciples  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  year  of  His 
public  ministry.  They  expected  a  kingdom  "  of  this  world," 
and  as  a  necessary  consequence  they  continued  to  cherish 
the  false  notions  current  at  the  time  concerning  the  condi- 
tions required  for  the  establishment  and  membership  of  the 
Messianic  kingdom.  Like  all  their  contemporaries,  they  had 
entirely  lost  sight  of  the  dark  picture  drawn  by  those  proph- 
ecies of  the  Old  Testament,  which  foretold  so  plainly  the 
sufferings  and  death  of  the  future  Redeemer  of  the  world, 
and  they  had  dwelt  with  delight  on  the  glorious  prospect 
afforded  by  those  prophecies  which  described  a  Deliverer 
coming  with  great  power  and  majesty,  and  forcibly  subject- 
ing all  His  enemies  to  serve  Him  as  a  footstool.  Only  such 
a  misconception  on  their  part  regarding  the  manner  in  which 
the  Messianic  kingdom  should  be  introduced  can  fully  ac- 
count (i)  for  Peter's  audacity  in  rebuking  Our  Lord  as  soon 
as  He  openly  announced  His  approaching  passion  and 
death  ;t  (2)  for  the  obtuseness  of  mind  which  the  twelve 
evinced  whenever  Jesus  spoke  in  the  plainest  language  of 
these  same  future  events  ;  (3)  for  the  kind  of  stupor  into 
which  they  were  thrown  by  the  death  and  burial  of  our 
divine  Saviour. 

Finally,  during  the  remainder  of  this  last  year  of  Qui 

*  Acts  i.  s-8.  t  Matt.  xvi.  21  sq. 


FIRST    PART    OF    THIRD    YEAR'S    MINISTRY.  147 

Lord's  public  ministry,  the  apostles  shared  also  the  mistaken 
ideas  of  their  contemporaries  with  regard  to  the  conditions 
of  membership  of  the  Messianic  kingdom.  In  fact,  several 
things,  such  as  Our  Lord's  public  statement  that  He  had 
come  not  to  destroy  the  Law,  but  to  fulfil  it,  and  His  words 
in  connection  with  the  Syrophenician  woman,*  etc.,  might 
easily  he  construed  by  the  disciples,  as  implying  that  the 
Mosaic  Law  was  certainly  to  be  binding  on  all  the  future 
members  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  that  in  this  same 
Church  the  privileged  people  of  God  would  naturally  be 
superior  to  the  Gentile  converts.  However  this  may  be,  it 
is  plain,  especially  from  the  statements  found  in  the  inspired 
Book  of  the  Acts,  that  in  this  respect  the  prejudices  of  the 
twelve  had  persevered  in  their  minds,  not  only  throughout 
the  last  year  of  Our  Lord's  public  ministry,  but  also  after 
the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  f 

§  2.   The   Training  of  the   Twelve  by  Our  Lord,  % 

I.  The    Training    before    the    Transfiguration. 

Next  to  the  preaching  of  the  kingdom  of  God  to  the  Jews  of 
His  time,  the  greatest  concern  of  Our  Lord  during  His  public 
life  was  the  training  of  those  whom  He  intended  from  the 
first  should  be  the  continuators  of  His  missionary  labors, 
and  His  effective  instruments  in  gathering  both  Jews  and 
Gentiles  into  one  and  the  same  fold.  But  the  twelve  little 
suspected  these  intentions  of  their  Master,  and  were  far  from 
prepared  to  take  in  His  teachings  so  contrary  to  their  own 
Messianic  expectations.  It  was  therefore  natural  that  Jesus 
should  disclose  to  them  only  gradually  the  nature  of  the 
kingdom  He  had  come  to  found,  and  the  exact  conditions 
of  its  membership. 

•  Mark  vii.  27-29. 

t  Cfr.,  for  instance,  Acts  x.,  xi.;  xv.  1-31. 

X  For  this  question,  see  Bacuez  et  Vigouroux,  Manuel  Bibliqae,  vol.  ill ,  n.  153 ; 
Prof.  Bruce,  The  Training  of  the  Twelve,  Passim. 


148  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

This  gradual  character  of  the  training  of  the  twelve  by 
our  divine  Saviour  is  particularly  noticeable  during  the 
period  which  extends  from  their  selection  to  Our  Lord's 
Transfiguration.  They  had  been  chosen  to  be  in  constant 
attendance  upon  Jesus  ;  and  hence  from  the  first  they  wit- 
nessed His  wonderful  miracles,  such  as  the  healing  of  the 
centurion's  servant,  the  raising  of  the  widow's  son,  etc.; 
they  heard  His  no  less  wonderful  discourses,  His  conver- 
sations and  discussions  with  the  Scribes  and  the  Pharisees  ; 
they  beheld  His  holy  examples  of  self-denial,  of  meekness, 
of  humility,  of  love  of  prayer,  etc. ;  they  noticed  also  that  His 
favor  with  the  people  at  large  grew  steadily  and  reached 
such  an  extent  that  the  multitudes,  struck  with  His  un- 
limited power  over  nature,  diseases,  death  and  the  spirit- 
world,  were  soon  led  to  consider  Him  as  being  very  likely 
the  expected  Messias.  All  this  was  indeed  calculated  to 
train  the  minds  and  feelings  of  the  disciples  for  their  future 
ministry,  yet  all  this,  or  almost  all  this,  was  common  to 
them  and  to  many  others  who,  eager  to  see  and  listen  to 
Jesus,  followed  Him  from  place  to  place.  Gradually,  how- 
ever, to  this  public  was  added  a  private  mode  of  training. 
This  we  first  notice  in  connection  with  Our  Lord's  public 
use  of  parables,  the  meaning  of  which  escaped  the  minds 
of  the  disciples,  and  which  was  explained  to  them  in  private 
by  their  Master.  *  Next,  it  was  their  privilege  to  witness 
miracles  withheld  from  the  gaze  of  the  multitudes,  f  and  at 
the  same  time,  their  faith  in  Our  Lord  was  strengthened 
more  and  more  both  by  His  rebukes  of  their  little  faith,  | 
and  by  His  direct  appeals  to  their  real  convictions  respect- 
ing His  Messianic  mission,  § 

Long,  indeed,  Our  Lord  pursued  His  fatiguing  missionary 
journeys  through  Galilee,  without  apparently  entrusting  to 

*  Cfr.  Matt.  xiii.  11,  18,  36,  51,  etc. 
+  Cfr.  Mark  iv.  35-40 ;  v.  37  ;  Matt.  xiv.  24-33* 
X  Cfr.  Matt.  viii.  26 ;  xiv.  31 ;  Mark  viii.  17  sq. 
§  John  vi.  68 ;  Matt.  xvi.  15. 


FIRST    PART    OF   THIRD    YEAR's   MINISTRY.  I49 

the  twelve  a  direct  share  in  His  labors  ;  but  the  time  came 
when  He  judged  it  advisable  that  He  should  send  them  on 
a  mission  like  His  own,  and  that  they  should  be  furnished 
with  the  same  miraculous  powers  as  Himself.  This  was  an 
invaluable  training  for  the  disciples,  who  had  thus  an 
opportunity  to  exercise  something  of  their  future  ministry 
under  the  eyes  of  their  Master.  As  upon  their  return  they 
told  Jesus  "  both  what  they  had  done  and  what  they  had 
taught,"  this  must  have  given  Our  Lord  an  opportunity  to 
make  them  remarks  for  future  use.  However  this  may  be, 
as  He  saw  they  greatly  needed  rest  He  invited  them  to 
retire  into  a  quiet  solitude,  thus  teaching  them  to  withdraw 
even  from  ministerial  labors  when  prudence  seems  to 
require  it. 

Finally,  in  connection  with  this  training  of  the  twelve 
by  Our  Lord  before  His  Transfiguration,  two  things  more 
are  worth  notice  :  (i)  His  care  on  at  least  two  occasions 
not  to  hurt  their  national  prejudices,*  while  however  pre- 
paring their  minds  for  the  admission  of  the  Gentiles  in 
preference  to  the  unbelieving  Jews  ;t  (2)  His  long  delay  to 
speak  to  the  twelve  of  His  approaching  passion  and 
death,  seeing  that  "He  began  "  to  announce  to  them  these 
events  so  important,  yet  so  contrary  to  their  notions  con- 
cerning the  Messianic  kingdom,  only  after  St.  Peter's 
emphatic  confession  in  the  district  of  Caesarea  Philippi. 

2.  The  Transfiguration.  Great,  indeed,  must  have 
been  the  gloom  of  the  twelve  when,  after  the  glorious 
promise  of  Jesus  to  Peter  that  He  would  make  him  the 
foundation  of  His  Church,  they  heard  their  Master  calling 
this  same  Peter  "  Satan,  savoring  not  the  things  that  are  of 
God,  but  the  things  that  are  of  men."  Greater  still  must 
have  been  their  gloom  when  they  heard  Jesus  saying 
openly,  not  only  to  His  disciples,  but  to  the  multitude  He 
had  called  for  the  purpose  :    "  If  any  man  will  come  after 

*  Matt.  x.  s  ;  Mark  vii.  26-29.  t  Matt.  viii.  lo-xa. 


150  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

Me,  let  him  deny  himself  and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow 
Me."  They  had  never  dreamed  that  they  should  pledge 
themselves  to  a  suffering  and  despised  Messias,  that  they 
should  fearlessly  acknowledge  Him  before  man,  under 
penalty  of  forfeiting  their  share  in  His  glorious  kingdom, 
so  that  they  greatly  needed  the  encouraging  words  which 
Our  Lord  was  then  pleased  to  add  :  "  There  are  some  of 
them  that  stand  here  who  shall  not  taste  death  till  they 
see  the  kingdom  of  God  coming  in  power."* 

Most  ancient  interpreters  find  in  the  glory  of  the  Trans- 
figuration, which  occurred  six  days  afterwards,  the  fulfilment 
of  this  comforting  promise  of  Jesus  to  His  disciples.f  The 
period  of  the  day  at  which  this  wonderful  event  took  place 
is  not  stated  in  the  Gospel  narrative,  but  as  Jesus  did  not 
come  down  from  the  mountain  of  the  Transfiguration  till 
the  day  following,  |  it  is  very  probable  that  He  ascended  in 
the  evening  the  holy  mount  with  the  three  disciples,  Peter, 
James  and  John,  spent  there  the  night  in  prayer  as  was 
His  wont,  was  transfigured  at  the  early  dawn,  and  soon 
after  descended.§ 

The  sacred  writers  do  not  name  the  mountain  upon 
which  Our  Lord  was  transfigured,  and  for  centuries  the 
tradition  of  both  Greeks  and  Latins  has  pointed  out  as  this 
favored  spot  Mount  Thabor,  in  Lower  Galilee,  a  few  miles 
east  of  Nazareth.  Recently,  however,  travellers  and  bibli- 
cal writers  generally  reject  this  tradition,  which  goes  back 
at  least  to  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century,  because  they 
think  that  the  testimonies  of  Polybius,  v.  70,  6,  and 
Josephus,  Antiq.  xiv.  6,  3  ;  Wars  i.  8,  7,  prove  that  in 
Our  Lord's  time  the  summit  of  Thabor  was  occupied  by  a 
fortified  city,  and  hence  was  not  the  secluded  spot  spoken  of 
in  the  Gospels.     Furthermore,  a  careful  study  of  the  geo- 

*  Matt.  xvi.  23-28  ;  Mark  viii.  33-39 ;  Luke  ix.  23-27. 
+  Matt.  xvii.  1-13  ;  Mark  ix.  2-13  ;  Lukh  ix.  28-36. 
X  Luke  ix.  37, 
§  Andrews,  p.  358 ;  Fouard,  vol.  ii.,  p.  28,  footnote  i. 


FIRST    PART    OF    THIRD    YEARS    MINISTRY.  151 

graphical  details  afforded  by  the  first  three  Gospels  in  this 
connection  has  convinced  them  that  at  the  time  of  His 
Transfiguration  Jesus  was  out  of  Galilee*  and  still  in  the 
district  of  Caesarea  Philippi.  Thence  they  have  inferred 
that  the  high  and  secluded  mount  of  the  Transfiguration  is 
most  likely  one  of  the  peaks  of  Mount  Hermon,  which 
arises  north  of  Palestine  to  the  height  of  more  than  9000 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  Mediterranean.! 

Three  apostles  only,  Peter,  James  and  John,  had  been 
selected  by  Jesus  to  witness  His  Transfiguration,  and  in 
descending  the  mountain  they  were  bidden  "tell  this  vision 
to  no  man,  till  the  Son  of  man  be  arisen  from  the  dead." 
The  contemplation  of  this  glorious  scene  was  therefore  a 
great  privilege  granted  to  the  three  apostles,  and  it  was 
well  calculated  to  strengthen  them  against  the  dark 
approaching  hour  of  their  Master's  passion  and  death. 
They  complied  with  His  injunction  of  silence  till,  long 
years  after  His  Resurrection,  their  testimony  that  they  had 
seen  His  glory  on  the  Holy  Mount  served  to  confirm  the 
faith  of  the  early  Christians. J 

3.  Training  of  the  Twelve  after  the  Transfigura- 
tion. After  the  great  event  of  the  Transfiguration,  the 
training  of  the  twelve  assumed  a  more  direct  and  more 
constant  character.  This  was  required  on  the  one  hand, 
by  the  nearness  of  Our  Lord's  death  and  departure  from 
them,  and  on  the  other  hand,  by  their  slowness  to  take  in 
His  references  to  His  coming  sufferings  and  death,  and  to 
understand  the  spirit  which  should  animate  them  as  minis- 
ters in  Christ's  kingdom.  Accordingly  we  see  Jesus  soon 
renewing  with  a  peculiar  distinctness  and  emphasis  the  pre- 
diction of  His  death,§  actually  giving  up  His  active  work 

♦  Cfr.  Mark  ix.  29. 

t  Cfr.  FiLLiON,  St.  Matt.,  p.  334  sq.     Fouard,  vol.  ii.,  p.  27,  footnote  2,  still  holds 
for  Thabor  as  the  mountain  of  the  Transfiguration. 
t  2  Pet.  i.  16 ;  John  i.  14. 
§  Mark  ix..  30 ;  Luke  ix.  44. 


152  OUTLINES    OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

in  Galilee  to  devote  Himself  more  exclusively  to  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  twelve*  and  availing  Himself  of  every  opportunity 
to  complete  their  training.  Thus  after  the  healing  of  a 
demoniac,  He  taught  them  the  great  power  of  prayer  and 
fasting  to  cast  out  evil  spirits  ;  f  after  the  miraculous  paying 
of  a  national  and  theocratic  tax  for  Himself  and  for  Peter 
— a  fact  which  implied  the  great  prominence  of  this  apostle 
and  gave  occasion  to  the  others  to  discuss  "  which  of  them 
should  be  the  greater  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ? " — He  in- 
culcated on  them  the  necessity  of  a  childlike  humility.  J 
Among  the  lessons  taught  them  at  this  time  by  their  Master 
we  may  notice  those  of  opportune  toleration  ;§  of  the  neces- 
sity of  good  example  ||  of  apostolic  severity  ;  %  of  sincere 
and  practically  unlimited  forgiveness  of  injuries.** 

*  Mark  ix.  29,  30.  t  Matt.  xvii.  14-20 ;  Mark  ix.  13-28. 

X  Matt.  xvii.  23  ;  xviii.  4 ;  Mark  ix.  32-34 ;  Lukb  ix.  46-48.  §  Mark  ix.  37  sq. 

0  Matt,  xviii.  6  sq.  IF  Matt,  xviii.  16  sq.-  ♦*  Matt.  xviiL  ai  sq. 


SYNOPSIS   OF   CHAPTER   XIII. 

Second  Part  of  Third  Year's  Ministry. 
(October — December  29  A.D.) 


I. 

The  Feast 
OF  Taber- 
nacles 
(11-18  Oct.): 


'i.  Departure 
from 
Galilee: 


2.  During  the 
Celebra- 
tion at 
Jerusa- 
lem: 


After  the 
Celebra- 
tion: 


"After   His 
up  " — and 


brethren   were    gone 
As  it  were  in  secret." 


Before  the  arrival  of  Jesus:  Frame 
of  mind  of  the  authorities  and  of 
the  people  towards  Him. 


After  the  arrival 
of  Jesus: 


In  the  midst  of 
the  feast. 

Incidents  of  the 
last  great  day 
of  the  festival. 


Short  sojourn 
in  Judaea: 


The  woman  taken 
in  adultery 
brought  to  Him. 

The  blind  man 
healed  adores 
Jesus. 


Return  to  Galilee. 


II. 

Last 

Departure 

FROM 

Galilee: 


Features  of  this  Departure  (Luke  ix.  51,  52  a). 


Incidents   on 
His  Way 
through 


Samaria: 


Peraea: 


153 


Rejection  from  a  certain 
town. 

Sending  of  the  seventy- 
two  disciples;  object 
of  their  mission;  their 
return. 

Jesus  instructs  His  dis- 
ciples. 

He  makes  a  deep  im- 
pression upon  the 
people. 

He  unmasks  more  and 
more  the  hypocrisy  of 
the  Pharisees. 

He  laments  over  the  sin 
and  coming  ruin  of 
Jerusalem. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

SECOND    PART    OF   THIRD    YEAR's    MINISTRY. 
(October-December  29  a.d.) 

§  I.    The  Feast  of  Tabernacles  (11- 18   October), 

I.  Departure  from  Galilee.  The  feast  of  Tabernacles 
spoken  of  by  St.  John  (vii.  2)  was  the  most  joyous  of  the 
three  yearly  festivals  prescribed  by  the  Law.  It  had  been 
instituted  to  commemorate  the  dwelling  of  the  Israelites  in 
booths  in  the  wilderness,  and  at  the  same  time,  to  return 
thanks  to  Jehovah  for  the  completed  ingathering  of  the  fruits 
of  the  goodly  land  which  He  had  given  to  His  people,  and 
which  He  ever  claimed  as  peculiarly  His  own.  It  fell  on 
the  fifteenth  day  of  the  seventh  month — September  or  be- 
ginning of  October — and  was  celebrated  five  days  after  the 
great  day  of  Atonement,  in  which  all  the  sins  of  Israel  were 
declared  forgiven,  a  circumstance  which  added  very  much 
to  the  joyous  character  of  the  feast  of  Tabernacles. 
During  the  seven  days  it  lasted,  the  people  dwelt  in  booths 
constructed  of  branches  of  trees,  and  erected  on  the  terrace- 
like roofs  of  the  houses,  in  the  courts  of  the  Temple,  in  the 
streets,  etc. 

Two  ceremonies  peculiar  to  this  celebration  are  especially 
to  be  noticed.  Every  morning  while  the  sacrifice  was  be- 
ing prepared,  a  priest  left  the  Temple  accompanied  by  a 
joyous  procession,  and  went  to  the  pool  of  Siloe  to  draw 
water,  and  after  his  return  he  poured  it  in  the  sight  of  all 
before  the  Lord,  as  a  memorial  of  the  water  from  the  rock 

154 


SECOND    PART    OF    THIRD    YEAR'S   MINISTRY.  I55 

of  Horeb.  *  The  second  ceremony  occurred  at  the  close  of 
each  day  in  the  Court  of  the  Women,  where  four  golden 
candelabra  were  lighted  amid  the  joyful  acclamations  of 
the  people,  in  remembrance  of  the  pillar  of  fire  which  had 
guided  their  ancestors,  f 

As  the  feast  of  Tabernacles  "  was  at  hand  "  the  "  brethren  " 
of  Jesus,!  on  their  departure  from  Capharnaum — probably  a 
week  or  ten  days  before  the  festival  began — came  to  Our 
Lord.  Not  believing  in  His  Messianic  claims,  they  ironi- 
cally advised  Him  to  leave  the  remote  province  of  Gali- 
lee, and  to  avail  Himself  of  this  period  of  national  assem- 
blage at  Jerusalem  to  display  His  wonderful  miracles  before 
all  those  who  would  wish  to  be  His  disciples.§ 

Jesus  replied  to  His  advisers  that,  differently  from  them, 
He  had  to  choose  the  opportune  time  to  present  Himself 
in  Jerusalem,  because  of  the  hatred  the  world  had  for  His 
character  and  His  mission.  He  then  added,  "  Go  you  up  to 
this  festival  day,  but  I  go  not  up  to  this  festival  day  ; 
because  my  time  is  not  accomplished."  From  these  words 
of  Our  Lord  His  brethren  understood  that  if  He  intended 
to  go  to  Jerusalem  for  the  feast  of  Tabernacles  He  did  not 
care  to  start  with  them  ;  accordingly  they  left  Him  behind 
in  Galilee.  Some  time  after  their  departure  He  also  started 
for  the  Holy  City,  but  with  all  the  secrecy  naturally  re- 
quired by  the  murderous  designs  of  the  Jewish  authorities. || 

2.  During  the  Celebration  at  Jerusalem.  Mean- 
time, the  festivities  were  going  on  in  Jerusalem,  and  both 
the  authorities  and  the  people  were  on  the  lookout  for 
Jesus.  Murmurs  secret  or  half-stifled  "  for  fear  of  the 
Jews  "  ran  among  the  multitudes,  some  exalting  His  vir- 
tues, others  representing  Him  as  a  dangerous  man.^^ 

*  ExoD.  xvii.  1-7. 

t  ExoD.  xiii.  21,  22.   See  Edershbim,  The  Temple,  its  Ministry  and  Services,  chap.  xiv. 
X  The  meaning  of  the  word  "  brethren  "  in  connection  with  Our  Lord  has  been  already 
discussed,  chap,  v.^  §  2. 
I  John  vii.  1-5.  I  John  vii.  6-10.  IF  John  vii.  xi-13. 


156  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

"  About  the  midst  of  the  festival  "  Jesus  appeared  in  the 
Temple  and  took  His  station  as  a  public  teacher.  Not 
having  graduated  in  the  rabbinical  schools  of  the  time, 
He  was  not  supposed  to  have  either  the  knowledge  or  the 
mission  required  to  be  considered  as  an  official  teacher  of  the 
people.  Soon,  however,  His  enemies  noticed  that  He  had 
a  wonderful  knowledge  of  Holy  Writ,  and  they  learned  from 
His  own  lips  that  He  had  received  both  His  doctrine  and 
His  mission  from  a  higher  authority  than  theirs,  namely, 
from  God.  Having  thus  defended  Himself  against  en- 
croaching upon  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  Jewish 
authorities.  Our  Lord  directly  charged  His  enemies  with 
violating  one  of  the  clearest  precepts  of  the  Mosaic  Law. 
His  words  referred  to  the  unjust  sentence  of  death  pro- 
nounced against  Him  at  His  last  sojourn  in  the  Holy  City, 
because  He  had  healed  on  the  Sabbath  the  paralytic  at  the 
pool  of  Bethsaida,  and  all  those  who  were  aware  of  this 
sentence  wondered  at  the  fact  that  the  Jewish  rulers  should 
allow  Jesus  to  speak  freely  after  they  had  decreed  He 
should  be  arrested  whenever  found  in  Judaea.  Some  of  His 
hearers  asked,  therefore,  "  Have  the  rulers  known  for  a 
truth  that  this  is  the  Christ?"  Others  rejected  His  Mes- 
siahship  because  unable  to  reconcile  their  knowledge  about 
Our  Lord's  origin  with  their  notions  respecting  the  origin  of 
the  Messias,  while  more,  on  the  contrary,  believed  in  Him 
on  the  strength  of  His  miracles. 

Amid  this  confused  discussion,  no  one  complied  with 
the  standing  order  of  the  authorities  to  arrest  Jesus  ;  nay 
more,  when  the  Pharisees  finally  sent  officers  to  apprehend 
Him,  their  messengers,  overawed  by  the  calm  and  solemnity 
of  His  words,  failed  to  carry  out  their  mandate,  f 

On  the  seventh,  "  the  last  and  great  "  day  of  the  festival, 
Jesus  publicly  alluded  to  the  first  ceremony  above  described, 
the  drawing  of  water  from  the  pool  of  Siloe,  and  applying  it 

t  John  vii.  14-36. 


SECOND    PART    OF    THIRD   YEAR'S   MINISTRY.  157 

to  Himself,  He  invited  all  to  come  to  Him  to  quench  their 
thirst  by  means  of  the  waters  at  His  command.  *  This 
started  new  discussions  among  the  multitudes  about  Our 
Lord's  Messiahship,  and  there  were  actual  though  unsuccess- 
ful attempts  to  secure  His  person.  Meanwhile,  the  Sanhe- 
drists  found  that  they  could  not  depend  on  their  own  officers 
to  apprehend  Jesus,  and  they  censured  them  for  surrender- 
ing themselves  to  the  popular  deception  in  favor  of  one  con- 
demned by  all  the  rulers  of  the  nation.  Whereupon,  one  of 
these  very  rulers,  the  Sanhedrist  Nicodemus  (he  that  came 
to  Him  by  night),f  interfered  in  Our  Lord's  behalf,  and 
pointed  out  to  his  colleagues  the  illegal  character  of  a  con- 
demnation of  any  man  without  a  hearing.  His  moderate 
words  met  with  a  violent  accusation  of  favoring  a  self-con- 
demned party,  since  it  was  a  foregone  conclusion  in  their 
eyes  that  "  out  of  Galilee  a  prophet  riseth  not."  Their 
meeting,  however,  was  broken  up  without  coming  to  any 
decision,  perhaps  because  some  members  of  the  assembly 
agreed  with  Nicodemus.  | 

3.  After  the  Celebration.  Early  the  next  day,  which 
was  also  observed  as  a  festival  by  the  Jews,  Our  Lord, 
who  had  spent  the  night  at  the  Mount  of  Olives,  came  into 
the  Temple  and  began  to  teach  the  people.  This  the  Jewish 
rulers  had  anticipated,  and  with  a  view  to  entrap  Him  they 
brought  to  Him  a  woman  taken  in  adultery  and  requested  His 
decision  concerning  her.  With  His  divine  prudence,  Jesus 
escaped  the  many  snares  hidden  in  their  request,  skilfully 
turned  against  His  enemies  the  feelings  of  the  surrounding 
multitudes,  and  dismissed  the  adulteress  with  these  simple 
words  :  "  Go,  and  now  sin  no  more."  § 

♦  Cfr.  IsAi.  xii.  3.  t  John  iii.  i  sq. 

X  John  vii.  37-53  ;  cfr.  Milman,  History  of  Christianity,  book  I.,  chap.  vi. 

§  John  viii.  i-ii.  The  arguments yi? rand  ag^ainst  the  genuineness  of  the  episode  of 
the  woman  taken  in  adultery  are  well  set  forth  and  examined  in  Fillion,  St.  Jean,  pp. 
163-166.  Cfr.  also  FouARD,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  57,  58 ;  Didon,  vol.  ii.,  Appendix  O;  Alford, 
The  Greek  Testament,  vol  i    St.  John,  vii.  53. 


158  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

On  this  same  eventful  Sabbath  day,  and  apparently  in  the 
Court  of  the  Women,  where  stood  the  candelabra  which 
were  lighted  every  night  during  the  feast  of  Tabernacles, 
Our  Lord,  alluding  to  this  ceremony,  uttered  these  memora- 
ble words  :  "  I  am  the  light  of  the  world  ;  he  that  followeth 
Me  walketh  not  in  darkness,  but  shall  have  the  light  of 
life."*  This  high  claim  of  Jesus  was  at  once  challenged 
by  His  opponents,  and  this  gave  Him  an  opportunity  to 
multiply  His  allusions  to  His  Messiahship  and  divine 
descent.  The  careful  reader  of  the  sacred  text  cannot 
help  feeling  that  the  animosity  of  the  Jews  was  steadily 
growing  as  Jesus  unfolded  His  lofty  claims,  and  as  He  re- 
proached His  enemies  with  their  criminal  unbelief  and 
murderous  designs.  At  length  their  animosity  reached  its 
height  when  He  identified  Himself  with  Jehovah  in  these 
significant  words  :  "  Before  Abraham  was  made,  I  am,"  and 
they  would  have  stoned  Him  to  death  had  not  Jesus  hid 
Himself  and  gone  out  of  the  Temple,  f 

Leaving  the  Temple,  Our  Lord  saw  a  man  blind  from  his 
birth,  and  He  miraculously  cured  him,  to  the  great  amaze- 
ment of  the  people,  who  could  hardly  believe  that  the  one 
cured  was  the  very  man  they  were  wont  to  see  begging  at  the 
gate  of  the  Temple.  As  the  cure  had  taken  place  when  the 
Sabbath  was  not  yet  over,  information  respecting  it  was  con- 
veyed to  the  Jewish  authorities,  who,  being  divided  among 
themselves  regarding  the  character  of  one  who  did  not  keep 
the  Sabbath,  resolved  to  investigate  the  case  with  the  utmost 
care.  Accordingly,  the  man  who  was  reported  to  have  been 
healed  was  subjected  to  a  lengthened  and  searching  examina- 
tion. Next,  his  parents  were  summoned  and  closely  ques- 
tioned. Finally,  the  evidence  in  favor  of  the  miracle  prov- 
ing unassailable,  the  Sanhedrists  did  their  best  to  overawe 
the  healed  man,  and  thereby  prevent  him  from  ascribing 

*  Cfr.  IsAi.  Ixii.  I.  t  JoMR  viii.  la-sg. 


SECOND    PART    OF    THIRD    YEARS    MINISTRY.  1 59 

the  miracle  to  Jesus,  of  whom  they  spoke  as  a  sinner,  as  a 
man  without  clearly  proved  mission.  But  the  one  who  had 
received  his  sight  argued  so  powerfully  in  favor  of  Our 
Lord's  holiness  and  divine  mission,  that,  no  longer  able  to 
bear  with  him,  the  Sanhedrists  pronounced  against  him  a 
sentence  of  excommunication. 

The  news  of  this  excommunication  soon  reached  Jesus, 
who,  having  sought  out  the  healed  man,  imparted  to  him 
the  knowledge  that  He  was  the  "  Son  of  God,"  and  re- 
ceived from  him  a  fervent  homage  of  grateful  adoration.* 

It  is  highly  probable  that  after  these  events  Jesus  did  not 
remain  long  in  the  territory  of  Judaea,  but  rather  hastened 
to  return  into  Galilee;  for  the  Jewish  rulers,  who  were  bent 
on  His  destruction  even  before  the  feast  of  Tabernacles,! 
must  have  been  much  exasperated  by  their  discussions  with 
Hira  and  among  themselves  during  its  celebration.^ 

§  2.  Last  Departure  from  Galilee, 

I.  Features  of  this  Departure.  §  After  a  brief  so- 
journ in  Galilee,  Jesus  left  this  province  for  the  last  time. 
This  departure  was  an  important  step  in  the  closing  period  of 
Our  Lord's  life,  and  this  is  why  it  is  described  by  St.  Luke 
in  words  peculiarly  solemn  and  impressive:  "And  it  came 
to  pass,  when  the  days  of  His  assumption  were  accomplish- 
ing, that  He  steadfastly  set  His  face  to  go  to  Jerusalem." 
From  the  beginning  of  this  journey  to  the  Holy  City,  Jesus 
contemplated  the  ignominious  passion  and  death  which 
awaited  Him  there,  and  He  gave  vent  to  feelirigs  in  har- 
mony with  this  prospect.  To  those  around  Him  He 
appeared  like  one  who,  conscious  of  great  perils  to  be  en 
countered,  fears,  yet  unflinchingly  faces  them.  || 

St.  Luke  mentions  another  feature  of  this  last  departur 

•  John  ix.  i-j8.  t  John  vii.  1.  %  Cfr.  also  St.  John  ix.  39 ;  z.  40 

§  LuKS  ix.  51,  52  a.  I  Cfr.  Mark  z.  32. 


l6o  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

of  Our  Lord  from  Galilee,  namely,  its  great  publicity.  Far 
from  going  up  to  Jerusalem  "  in  private,"  as  He  had  done 
quite  lately,  He  now  appears  surrounded  with  numerous  fol- 
lowers. Indeed,  their  number  is  so  great,  that  to  secure  for 
them  sufficient  food  and  lodging  in  the  places  they  will 
traverse,  He  feels  it  needful  to  send  before  Him  many  mes- 
sengers. The  mission  of  seventy-two  other  disciples  very 
soon  afterwards  added  considerably  to  the  public  character 
of  this  journey,  at  the  end  of  which  Jesus  entered  Jerusa- 
lem in  triumph  at  the  head  of  countless  multitudes.  * 

2.  Incidents  on  His  Way  through  Samaria.  Leav- 
ing Galilee,  Jesus  proceeded  southward  through  the  plain 
of  Esdraelon,  and  soon  reached  the  border-land  lying 
between  Galilee  and  Samaria.  Meanwhile,  His  messengers 
having  arrived  at  a  Samaritan  village — very  probably 
Ginaea  f — had  announced  His  coming  as  that  of  the  Mes- 
sias  on  His  way  to  Jerusalem.  The  inhabitants  of  this  vil- 
lage shared  manifestly  the  enmity  of  their  race  against  the 
Jews,  and  hence  they  declined  to  have  anything  to  do  with 
Galileans  who  professed  to  be  on  their  way  to  the  Jewish 
capital.  James  and  John  would  have  punished  this  refusal 
of  hospitality  by  calling  down  fire  from  heaven,  and  thus 
would  have  crushed  the  first  attempt  at  resistance  against 
Jesus,  who  they  thought  was  about  to  assert  His  royal 
claims  in  Jerusalem.  But  Jesus  rebuked  His  apostles,  say- 
ing :  "  You  know  not  of  what  spirit  you  are,"  and  they  went 
into  another  town,  probably  in  Galilee.  | 

From  this  town  Jesus  passed  eastward  to  the  Jordan,  and 
soon  afterwards  entered  Per3ea.§  Before,  however,  pene- 
trating into  this  province.  He  selected  and  sent  before  Him 
seventy-two  of  His  disciples.  This  large  deputation  was 
naturally  calculated  to  gather  crowds  around  Jesus  in  the 

♦  Cfr.  John  xii.  19. 

t  See  JosEpHus,  Antiq.  of  the  Jews,  book  XX.,  chap.  vi.  i ;  Andrews,  p.  386. 

t  LwKB  ix.  52  ^-56.  §  Cfr.  John  x.  40. 


SECOND    PART    OF    THIRD    YEAR'S   MINISTRY.  l6l 

places  He  would  traverse,  the  more  so  because  Our  Lord's 
messengers  were  to  confirm  their  message  by  great  mira- 
cles. The  instructions  which  they  received  were  about  the 
same  as  those  given  to  the  apostles  in  their  temporary  mis- 
sion through  Galilee,  and  on  the  occasion  of  the  menaces 
threatened  against  those  who  will  not  receive  them, 
Jesus  uttered  awful  woes  against  the  unbelieving  cities  of 
Corozain,  Bethsaida  and  Capharnaum,  which  about  thirty 
years  afterwards  were  but  heaps  of  ruins.  * 

The  seventy-two  rejoined  their  Master  at  a  fixed  place, 
and  evinced  the  greatest  joy  because  even  evil  spirits  had 
been  subjected  to  them  in  Our  Lord's  name.  Jesus  rejoiced 
at  their  success,  seeing  in  it  the  presage  of  the  downfall  of 
the  empire  of  Satan,  but  at  the  same  time  He  taught  them 
that  the  moral  worth  of  His  ministers  is  proportionate,  not 
to  their  wonderful  powers  even  over  demons,  but  to  their 
persevering  faithfulness  to  God's  grace.  Then  Jesus  praised 
the  divine  decree  that  while  the  proud  minds  would  not 
understand  the  things  of  God,  the  humble  would  enjoy  this 
inestimable  privilege,  f 

3.  Incidents  on  the  Way  through  Peraea.  While 
journeying  through  Persea  Our  Lord  availed  Himself  of 
every  opportunity  to  train  His  apostles  for  their  future  mis- 
sion. With  them  in  particular  he  insisted  on  the  great 
dangers  connected  with  the  possession  of  worldly  riches,t 
and  among  the  special  rewards  He  promised  as  a  return  for 
their  generous  giving  up  of  everything  to  follow  Him  He 
reckoned  the  privilege  of  undergoing  persecutions  for  His 
sake.  §  During  this  same  journey  He  gave  them  that  di- 
vine form  of  prayer  which  is  so  familiar  to  us  under  the 
name  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  which  ever  suggested  to 
Christ's  followers  the  proper  frame  of  mind  in  which  to 
address  God  in  prayer.  ||     For  their  own  special  benefit  He 

♦  Luke  x.  1-16.  +  Luke  x.  17-24.  %  Mark  x.  23-27. 

§  Makk  X.  27-30.  UlLuKK  xi.  x-4 ;  Matt.  vi.  9  sq. 


l62  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

delivered  several  parables  well  calculated  to  inspire  them 
with  the  various  feelings  which  should  animate  them  in  the 
discharge  of  their  future  apostolic  duties.* 

If  from  the  disciples  of  Jesus  we  turn  to  the  multitudes 
which  gathered  around  Him  it  is  easy  to  notice  that  in  His 
passage  through  Peraea  Our  Lord  produced  a  deep  impres- 
sion upon  men,  of  whom  probably  only  a  few  had  already 
seen  and  heard  Him.  Thus  after  He  had  cast  out  an  evil 
spirit  they  began  to  consider  Him  as  the  Messias,  and  to 
expect — despite  the  calumnious  charges  of  His  enemies — 
that  He  would  soon  give  the  great  sign  which,  according  to 
their  notions,  was  to  usher  in  the  Messianic  era.f  They 
were  most  desirous  to  listen  to  His  words,  and  hence  they 
crowded  around  Him  in  very  large  numbers  ;  X  indeed,  on 
one  occasion  *'  they  trod  one  upon  another  "  in  their  eager- 
ness to  hear  Him.§  They  admired  the  depth  of  His  doc- 
trine, II  recognized  His  perfect  uprightness,^  and  they  all 
rejoiced  at  the  miracles  He  performed  and  at  the  victories 
He  won  in  His  contest  with  the  Pharisees.** 

As  might  naturally  be  expected,  these  enemies  of  Christ 
kept  on  His  track  during  His  journey  through  Peraea  and 
did  their  utmost  to  undermine  His  popularity.  But  Our 
Lord,  who  was  perfectly  safe  on  a  territory  outside  of  the 
direct  influence  of  the  Jewish  rulers,  denounced  on  every 
occasion  their  hypocritical  doctrines  and  practices.  It 
seems,  therefore,  very  probable  that  when  some  of  them  re- 
ported to  Jesus  that  Herod  Antipas  (on  whose  territory  He 
then  was)  had  a  mind  to  kill  Him  they  simply  wanted  Him 
to  hasten  His  passage  into  Judaea,  because  they  felt  it  a 
hopeless  task  to  check  the  growth  of  His  influence  in  the 
country  beyond  the  Jordan.ff 

A  last  prominent  feature  of  this  journey  of  Our  Saviour 
through  Peraea  is  connected  with  the  fate  which  awaited 

I*  LuKB  xi.  5  ;  xii.  58.         t  Luice  xi.  14-29.         t  Luke  zi.  29.        §  Luke  zii.  z. 
y  Luke  xi.  27.  H  Luke  xii.  13.       **  Luke  xiii.  17.       ft  Luke  xiii.  31-33. 


SECOND    PART    OF    THIRD    YEAR'S   MINISTRY.  163 

the  Jewish  nation,  and  to  which  Jesus  repeatedly  alluded  as 
He  advanced  towards  the  province  of  Judaea.*  He  knew 
that  the  nation  would  not  profit  by  His  invitation  to  pen- 
ance— nay,  more,  would  even  put  to  death  its  only  Saviour,! 
and  the  contemplation  of  the  coming  ruin  of  the  Holy  City 
drew  from  His  loving  heart  the  most  tender  expressions  of 
grief.t 

It  was  in  this  frame  of  mind  that  He  continued  His  way 
to  Judaea,  unwilling  to  remain  beyond  the  reach  of  His 
deadly  enemies,  because  He  had  been  sent  to  lay  down  His 
life  for  the  sins  of  the  world.§ 

*  LuKH  xi.  2x-  26  ;  49-51 ;  xiii.  1-9 ;  29,  35,  t  Lukb  xiii.  32,  33. 

t  Luke  xiii.  34, 35.  {  Luke  xiii.  32,  33. 


SYNOPSIS   OF   CHAPTER   XIV. 

Third  Part  of  Third  Year's  Ministry. 
(December  29  a.d. — February  30  a.d.) 


Jeth-     -j 
ny:         ( 


In  Beth 

ANY 


The  Village  Described. 
Jesus  and  His  Friends. 


II. 
In  Jeru- 
salem: 


'  The  Feast  of  the  (  Why  instituted  ? 
Dedication:        j  How  celebrated  ? 


Our  Lord  in  the 

Porch  of  Solo- 
mon: 


His   claims   to   be    "  One  with 

the  Father." 
His  escape  from  the  hands  of 

the  Jews. 


fJ 


esus  and  the  Pharisees. 


III. 

THE  "i  Jesus  and  the  Classes  despised  by  the  Pharisees. 

Jordan:       [Our  Lord  and  His  Disciples. 


IV. 

In  Bethany 

Again: 

The 

Raising  of 

Lazarus. 


Narrative  of  the  Miracle  (John  xi.  1-44). 
Its  Consequences  (John  xi.  45-54). 

Z64 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THIRD   PART   OF   THIRD   YEAr's   MINISTRY. 
(December  29  a. d.— February  30  A.D.) 

I.  In  Bethany.    After  having  crossed  the  Jordan  Jesus 

followed  the  wild  road  from  Jericho  to  Jerusalem,  and 
while  His  disciples  pushed  up  to  the  Holy  City  to  prepare 
for  the  festival  of  the  Dedication,  now  very  near  at  hand, 
He  stopped  at  the  little  village  of  Bethany,  about  2 
miles  east  of  the  Jewish  capital.  This  hamlet,  now  called  El 
'Azarijeh,  consists  at  present  of  about  forty  hovels  occupied 
by  Mussulman  inhabitants.  It  is  surrounded  by  fig-gardens 
and  terrace-walls,  which  present  rather  a  pleasant  aspect.  In 
the  centre  of  the  village  is  a  tall  square  tower  rising  above 
what  is  pointed  out  as  the  tomb  of  Lazarus,  a  deep  recess 
cut  into  the  rock,  over  which  a  church  had  been  erected  in 
the  fourth  century  of  our  era.  Bethany  was  for  Our  Lord 
a  convenient  place  of  rest  and  seclusion,  because  it  was 
situated  on  the  eastern  slope  of  Mount  Olivet,  which  shut 
it  out  from  the  busy  city  of  Jerusalem,  and  also  because  it 
was  the  home  of  souls  dear  to  His  heart — Martha,  Mary,  and 
their  brother  Lazarus. 

The  visit  of  Jesus  at  this  comparatively  wealthy  house 
was  most  welcome.*  This  is  manifest  not  only  from  the 
care  and  trouble  of  Martha  in  preparing  food  for  Our  Lord, 
but  also  from  the  calm  attitude  of  Mary,  who,  sitting  at  the 

♦  In  assigning  to  this  particular  time  Our  Lord's  visit  to  His  friends  in  Bethany  we 
follow  what  seems  to  be  the  more  probable  order  of  events. 

165 


l66  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

feet  of  Jesus,  gave  undivided  attention  to  His  words.  In 
her  anxiety  to  supply  everything  for  Our  Lord's  comforts 
Martha  complained  to  Him  of  the  apparent  inaction  of  her 
younger  sister.  The  reply  of  Jesus  was  no  less  admirable 
for  its  delicacy  than  for  its  far-reaching  import.  He  gently 
called  the  attention  of  Martha  to  the  distraction  which  her 
great  solicitude  about  material  things  caused  her,  and  then 
He  added  these  remarkable  words:  "  But  one  thing  is 
necessary.  Mary  hath  chosen  the  best  part,  which  shall  not 
be  taken  away  from  her. "  * 

2.  In  Jerusalem.  From  Bethany  Our  Lord  proceeded 
to  Jerusalem  to  attend  the  feast  of  the  Dedication.  This 
festival  occurred  in  the  beginning  of  winter,  in  the  Jewish 
month  corresponding  to  part  of  November  and  December. 
It  was  instituted  (b.c.  164)  by  Judas  Machabeus  in  com- 
memoration of  the  cleansing  of  the  Temple  after  it  had 
been  profaned  by  Antiochus  Epiphanes.  f  It  reminded  the 
Jews  of  recent  victories  over  the  Gentiles,  and  accordingly 
it  had  become  one  of  the  favorite  solemnities  of  the  nation, 
now  groaning  under  the  hated  yoke  of  pagan  Rome. 
Although  this  festival  could  be  kept  everywhere  throughout 
the  land,  yet  crowds  of  patriots  repaired  yearly  to  Jerusa- 
lem for  its  eight  days'  celebration. 

It  was  about  two  months  since  Jesus  had  last  been  in 
Jerusalem,  and  it  was  well  known  to  the  Jewish  authorities 
that  during  a  great  part  of  that  time  He  had  acted  as  one 
seeming  to  claim  the  Messianic  dignity,  yet  not  explicitly 
declaring  Himself.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  the  Jewish  rulers 
saw  Him  walking  "  in  the  Temple,  in  Solomon's  porch  " — 
probably  the  eastern  portico  of  the  Court  of  the  Gentiles 
— they  came  around  Him  and  said,  "  How  long  dost  Thou 
hold  our  souls  in  suspense  ?  If  Thou  be  the  Christ,  tell  us 
plainly."  In  His  answer  Our  Lord  pointed  to  His  well- 
known  miracles  as  a  sufficient  evidence  for  all  men  disposed 

•  Luke  x,  38-42.        t  i  Mach.  iv.  54-59-    See  Outlines  of  Jewish  History,  p.  341. 


THIRD   PART   OF   THIRD   YEAR's   MINISTRY.  167 

to  hear,  recognize,  and  follow  Him.  Then  He  went  on, 
stating  that  His  hand  and  the  Father's  hand  are  one,  and 
finally  He  declared  explicitly,  "  I  and  the  Father  are  one." 
These  last  words  of  Jesus  plainly  amounted  to  a  claim  of 
the  divine  nature,  and  this  the  Jews  understood  so  well 
that  at  once  they  took  up  stones  to  put  Him  to  death, 
because  of  blasphemy,  "  and  because  that  He,  being  a  man, 
made  Himself  God.  "  * 

Our  Lord  then  argued  with  His  enemies  (i)  that  there 
was  no  blasphemy  on  His  part  in  saying,  "  I  am  the  Son  of 
God,"  since  the  very  name  "  God''  was  repeatedly  ascribed 
in  Holy  Writ  to  God's  created  representatives  ;  (2)  that  the 
truth  of  His  claim  to  intercommunion  of  nature  between 
Himself  and  the  Almighty  was  clearly  evinced  by  the  works 
of  divine  power  He  had  so  often  wrought  before  their 
eyes.  Their  only  reply  was  an  attempt  to  seize  Him,  but 
He  escaped  out  of  their  hands  and  withdrew  from  Judaea.f 

3.  Beyond  the  Jordan.  Threatened  with  imminent 
death,  Jesus  hastened  to  go  again  beyond  the  Jordan  into 
the  safer  province  of  Peraea,  and  He  took  up  His  abode  in 
Bethany,  beyond  Jordan,  where  John  had  formerly  baptized. 
The  words  which  the  holy  precursor  had  uttered  on  several 
occasions  about  Our  Lord's  character  and  mission  were 
still  rumored  in  the  district  of  Bethany,  and  many,  having 
resorted  to  Jesus  to  ascertain  whether  He  was  indeed  the 
Messias,  believed  in  Him.  X 

To  this  period  of  the  last  year  of  Our  Lord's  ministry  we 
may  probably  refer  the  various  events  which  are  recorded 
in  Chapters  xiv.-xvii.  10  of  St.  Luke.  Several  of  these 
events  show  us  how,  on  the  one  hand,  the  Pharisees  con- 
tinued their  hostility  against  Jesus,  striving  to  entrap  Him 
(xiv.  i),  to  undermine  His  authority  with  the  people  (xv.  2), 

*  John  x.  23-32. 

t  John  x.  34-40.    Cfr.  Edershbim,  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus  the  Mes^ah,  vol.  U., 
pp.  229-232. 
%  John  x.  40-42. 


l68  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

etc. ;  and  how,  on  the  other  hand,  Our  Lord  unmasked 
their  hypocrisy  (xiv.  5,  6),  rebuked  their  pride  and  their 
selfishness  (xiv.  7  sq.),  and  opposed  their  false  notion  that 
because  they  were  the  first  invited  guests  of  the  kingdom 
they  were  sure  to  obtain  a  place  therein  (xiv.  16-24).  Very 
different,  indeed,  were  the  relations  of  Our  Saviour  with  the 
classes  despised  by  the  Pharisees.  They  willingly  drew 
near  Him,  knowing  that  they  would  find  in  Him  a  tender 
compassion  for  their  manifold  miseries  ;  and  He,  on  His 
part,  delivered  several  touching  parables — such  as  the 
parables  of  the  lost  sheep,  of  the  prodigal  son  —  on  their 
behalf.  Meantime  Jesus  inculcated  upon  His  disciples 
important  lessons,  such  as  the  necessity  of  self-denial  to 
follow  Him,  the  duty  of  forgiveness,  etc.,  etc. 

4.  In  Bethany  Again.  Jesus  had  been  for  some  con- 
siderable time  beyond  the  Jordan  when  He  received  from 
Martha  and  Mary  a  message  informing  Him  of  the  illness  of 
their  brother,  Lazarus.  The  words  of  their  delicate  prayer 
touchingly  indicate  the  affectionate  intimacy  existing  between 
Our  Lord  and  this  family  :  "  Lord,  behold,  he  whom  Thou 
lovest  is  sick."  * 

Instead  of  uttering  a  word  of  power  to  heal  His  friend  at 
a  distance  or  of  hastening  to  Bethany  Jesus  "  remained 
still  in  the  same  place  two  days,"  knowing  that  this  illness  of 
Lazarus  was  to  be  the  occasion  of  great  glory  to  "  God  "  and 
to  the  "Son  of  God." t 

On  the  third  day  Our  Saviour  proposed  to  His  disciples  to 
go  into  Judaea  again,  and  they,  learning  from  His  mouth  that 
their  common  friend  Lazarus  was  actually  dead,  agreed  to 
their  Master's  proposal,  despite  their  fears  lest  His  enemies 
should  apprehend  Him  and  put  Him  to  death. J 

Lazarus  had  died  on  the  very  ^ay  his  sisters  sent  their 
anxious  message  to  Jesus,  and  his  burial  had,  according  to 
Eastern  customs,  taken  place  a  few  hours  after  his  death. 

♦  John  xi.  x-3,  t  John  xi.  4-6.  X  John  xi.  7-16. 


THIRD    PART    OF    THIRD    YEAR'S    MINISTRY.  169 

As  Our  Lord  started  only  after  a  two  days'  delay,  and  spent 
a  day  to  cross  the  Jordan  and  reach  Bethany,  he  found  at 
His  arrival  that  His  friend  "  had  been  four  days  already  in 
the  grave."  It  was  therefore  in  the  midst  of  the  seven  days 
of  mourning,  and  the  friends  of  the  family  had  come  from 
Jerusalem,  only  about  2  miles  distant,  to  pay  the  cus- 
tomary visit  of  condolence  to  the  two  sisters.* 

On  the  news  of  Our  Saviour's  approach  spreading  through 
the  village,  Martha  rushed  out  to  meet  Him,  while  Mary 
remained  in  the  house.  The  words  of  Martha  betrayed  at 
once  her  faith  and  her  sorrow  :  "  Lord,"  she  said,  "  if  Thou 
hadst  been  here,  my  brother  had  not  died  ;"  then  she  ven- 
tured to  mention  her  hope  that  He,  even  now,  would  do 
something  for  them.  This  was  followed  by  the  sublime 
words  of  Jesus,  **  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life  ;  he  that 
believeth  in  Me,  although  he  be  dead,  shall  live,"  and  by  the 
wonderful  act  of  faith  of  Martha,  "  Yea,  Lord,  I  have  be- 
lieved that  Thou  art  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God, 
who  art  come  into  this  world."  f 

Upon  Mary's  arrival  in  tears,  and  accompanied  by  weep- 
ing friends,  the  scene  became  so  moving  that  Jesus,  weeping 
in  His  turn  and  groaning  in  spirit,  inquired  where  they  had 
laid  the  dead.| 

They  repaired  to  the  sepulchre,  which  was  a  cave,  the 
mouth  of  which  was  closed  with  a  large  stone.  At  the  bid- 
ding of  Jesus,  and  despite  the  expostulations  of  Martha,  the 
stone  was  removed,  and  after  a  brief  prayer  of  thanksgiving 
to  His  Father,  the  Son  of  God  uttered  these  three  simple 
words  :  "  Lazarus,  come  forth  !  "  The  summons  was  obeyed, 
and  Lazarus,  soon  freed  from  the  garments  of  death  which 
were  wound  round  his  body,  walked  out  of  the  sepulchre.  § 

This  was,  indeed,  a  work  of  divine  power,  and  many  Jews 
who  had  witnessed  this  raising  of  a  man  from  the  corrup- 
tion of  the  tomb  believed  in  Jesus,  while  others,  probably 

*  John  xi.  17-19-        t  JoHNxi.  ao-27.        X  John  xi.  28-34.        §  John  xi.  35-44. 


170  OUTLINES  Of   NEW    TESTAMENT   HISTORY. 

enraged  at  what  had  occurred,  reported  it  to  His  enemies. 
Alarmed  by  this  news,  the  chief  priests  and  the  Pharisees 
hastily  convened  a  meeting  of  the  Sanhedrim,  at  which  the 
high  priest  Caiphas  presided,  and  in  which  they  debated 
what  was  to  be  done.  This  great  miracle  of  Our  Lord 
could  not  be  denied  any  more  than  those  He  had  already 
performed  during  His  public  career,  and  it  was  generally 
felt  in  the  council  that  if  He  was  allowed  to  continue  His 
ministry  the  people  at  large  would  believe  in  His  Messianic 
claims,  rebel  against  the  Roman  power,  and  thereby  bring 
about  the  ruin  of  Jerusalem  and  its  Temple  ;  for  in  the  eyes 
of  His  enemies  it  was  self-evident  that  Jesus  was  not  the 
man  who,  in  the  event  of  a  popular  uprising,  could  cope 
successfully  with  the  legions  of  Rome.* 

At  length  the  high  priest,  arising,  declared  with  disdain 
that  his  colleagues  "  knew  nothing  at  all,"  and  then  he 
cruelly  advised  them  to  put  Jesus  to  death.  "  It  is  expedi- 
ent for  you,"  he  said,  "  that  one  man  should  die  for  the 
people,  and  that  the  whole  nation  perish  not."  This 
language  of  Caiphas  was,  as  the  sacred  writer  tells  us,  a 
wonderful  though  unconscious  prediction  of  Our  Lord's 
sacrificial  death,  and  from  this  time  forward  it  was  a  settled 
resolve  with  the  highest  council  of  the  nation,  that  the 
public  safety  required  the  death  of  our  divine  Saviour,  and 
all  that  was  deliberated  upon  in  the  following  meetings  of 
this  same  assembly  was  how  the  sentence  of  death  could  be 
best  carried  out.f 

Knowing  the  criminal  designs  of  His  enemiei^,  Jesus  with- 
drew to  a  safe  distance  from  the  Jewish  capital  and  went 
secretly  to  Ephrem,  where  He  was  soon  rejoined  by  His  dis- 
ciples. In  this  secluded  place — about  i6  miles  north  of 
Jerusalem — He  eluded  the  furious  search  of  His  enemies, 
and  probably  spent  the  time  preparing  His  disciples  for  His 
coming  death.  J 

*  John  xi.  45-48.  t  John  xi.  49-53.  t  John  xi.  54-56. 


SYNOPSIS   OF   CHAPTER   XV. 

The  Gospel  Miracles  or  Supernatural   Facts   Re- 
corded DURING   THE    PUBLIC    MINISTRY   OF   ChRIST. 


I. 

Supernatural 

Character 

OF  THE  Gospel 

Miracles 


r  their     various     names     in     the 
Suggested     J      sacred  narrative. 

by  J  the  harmony  of  the  Gospels  with 

[     the  other  parts  of  Holy  Writ. 

fthe      moral     integrity     of     Our 
Clearly    Im- I      Lord's  character. 

plied  in       |  the  substantial  integrity  of   the 
[     Gospels. 


II. 

Their 

Manifold 

Object: 


I.  The  World  of  Nature  (Variety  and  Impor- 
tance of  this  first  Kind  of  Miracles). 


2.  Man 


^i 


Cures. 

Knowledge  of  thoughts. 

Resurrections. 


3.  Spirit-World:    Possessions   (Reality; 

nection  with  Natural  Diseases). 

4.  Future  Events:  Prophecies. 


Con- 


III. 

Their  Chief 
Characteris- 
tics: 


1.  Appropriateness  as  Proofs  of  Divine  Mission 

and  Character. 

2.  Perfect  Mastery  over  All  Things. 

3.  Marvellous  Simplicity. 

4.  Commonly    Inspired     by     Compassion     for 

Others. 
,5.  Never  Wrought  for  Self. 

171 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  GOSPEL  MIRACLES  OR   SUPERNATURAL  FACTS  RECORDED 
DURING    THE    PUBLIC    MINISTRY    OF   CHRIST.* 

Up  to  recent  times  it  has  been  universally  felt  that  the 
miracles  of  Our  Saviour  are  both  the  most  salient  feature  of 
His  public  career  and  the  most  convincing  proof  of  His 
divine  mission.  Contemporary  rationalists,  however,  dis- 
card entirely  the  miraculous  element  of  the  Gospels  while 
professing  to  retain  their  doctrinal  teachings.  Even  outside 
this  radical  school,  there  are  many  who  show  a  tendency  to 
neglect  the  supernatural  features  of  Our  Lord's  life  as  of 
secondary  importance.  As  a  consequence,  before  conclud- 
ing this  rapid  study  of  Our  Lord's  public  ministry,  we  shall 
examine,  however  briefly,  (i)  the  supernatural  character  of 
the  miracles  recorded  in  the  Gospels,  (2)  their  manifold 
subject,  (3)  their  chief  characteristics. 

I.  Supernatural  Character  of  the  Gospel  Miracles. 
That  the  extraordinary  events  recorded  in  the  Gospels  were 
real  miracles,  that  is,  actual  and  observable  events  which 
must  be  referred  to  a  special  intervention  of  God,  may  easily 
be  inferred  from  the  names  of  "  wonders^''  ""powers^'  "  signs  " 
and  ^^ works''  which  they  bear  in  the  sacred  narrative. 
These  various  names  clearly  describe  them  as  striking  facts, 
requiring  the  exercise  of  superhuman  power  for  their  pro- 

*  For  this  chapter,  see  Bacuez  et  Vigouroux,  Manuel  Biblique,  vol.  iii.,  n.  234  sq.; 
BouGAUD,  Christianisme  et  Temps  Presents,  part  translated  by  C.  L.  Currie,  under 
the  title,  An  Argument  for  the  Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  chap,  iii.;  Trench,  On  Mira- 
cles ;  Bruce,  The  Miraculous  Element  in  the  Gospels  ;  Seblev,  Ecce  Homo,  chap,  v.; 
Westcott,  Characteristics  of  the  Gospel  Miracles,  etc. 

172 


GOSPEL   MIRACLES.  1 73 

duction,  and  granted  by  Heaven  as  credentials  of  a  divine 
mission.  This  inference  is  all  the  more  natural,  because 
these  are  the  very  names  under  which  the  works  of  divine 
power  are  designated  in  the  Old  Testament  and  in  the 
writings  of  the  New  Testament  distinct  from  the  Gospels  : 
the  identity  of  names  points  to  an  identity  of  nature.  Fur- 
thermore, if  both  before  and  after  Our  Lord's  time  the 
supernatural  character  of  the  mission  of  the  prophets  and 
of  the  other  messengers  of  God  had  to  be  evidenced  by  real 
miracles,  the  record  of  which  is  preserved  in  the  sacred 
Scriptures,  it  is  only  natural  to  think  that  the  divine  char- 
acter of  the  much  more  important  and  difficult  mission  of 
Our  Lord  had  also  to  be  evidenced  by  real  miracles,  by 
such  miracles  as  those  we  find  described  in  the  Gospel  nar- 
ratives. 

Thus,  then,  the  reality  of  the  Gospel  miracles  is  suggested 
by  their  various  names  in  the  sacred  narrative,  and  by  the 
harmony  of  the  Gospels  with  the  other  parts  of  Holy  Writ; 
but  from  other  considerations  it  is  possible  to  go  much  far- 
ther. It  may  be  shown,  for  instance,  that  the  reality  of  the 
miracles  recorded  in  the  Gospels  is  necessarily  implied  in  the 
moral  integrity  of  Our  Lord's  character.  Jesus  pro- 
fessed to  work  miracles  ;  He  gave  them  as  God's  testimony 
in  His  favor  and  as  signs  of  His  Messianic  dignity  ;  He 
vindicated  their  divine  character  when  they  were  ascribed 
to  the  agency  of  the  Evil  One  ;  He  was  not  only  believed 
by  His  followers  to  be  endowed  with  the  power  of  working 
miracles,  but  He  professed  to  impart  a  similar  power  to  His 
twelve  apostles  and  next  to  His  seventy-two  messengers; 
and  after  they  had  themselves  exercised  these  miraculous 
powers.  He  confirmed  them  in  their  belief  that  He  and 
they  worked  real  miracles.  He  so  acted  that  His  very 
enemies  could  not  help  believing  that  He  actually  wrought 
miracles,  and  on  several  occasions  He  uttered  awful  woes 
against  flourishing  cities  and  against  the  Jewish  rulers,  be- 


174  OUTLINES    OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY, 

cause,  despite  the  stupendous  miracles  He  had  worked  to 
convince  them  of  His  divine  mission  and  character,  they 
had  persevered  in  their  rejection  of  His  claims.  From  all 
this,  it  is  plain  that  the  veracity  of  Our  Lord  absolutely  re- 
quires that  we  should  admit  that  He  worked  real  miracles, 
such  miracles  as  those  with  which  the  Evangelists  make  us 
acquainted. 

The  reality  of  these  same  miracles  is  no  less  clearly  im- 
plied in  the  substantial  integrity  of  the  Gospels.  What- 
ever their  differences,  the  four  Gospels  agree  in  represent- 
ing the  public  life  of  Jesus  as  an  almost  unbroken  series  of 
miracles.  Hardly  a  day  is  described  in  them  at  any  length 
without  the  record  of  one  or  several  miracles  of  Our  Saviour. 
Again,  throughout  the  Gospels,  Our  Lord's  miracles  are 
represented  either  as  the  occasion  or  as  the  subject-matter 
of  His  discourses  ;  they  are  given  as  the  chief  reason  why 
His  enemies  pursue  Him  as  a  Sabbath-breaker,  and  also 
why  many  believe  in  Him  and  the  multitudes  follow  Him 
everywhere.  In  a  word,  to  the  attentive  reader  of  the  Gos- 
pels it  must  appear  self-evident  that  the  removal  of  the 
miraculous  element  from  the  Gospel  narrative  would  de- 
stroy the  connection,  the  strength  and  even  the  meaning  of 
what  would  remain. 

2.  Manifold  Subject  of  the  Gospel  Miracles.  The 
first  sphere  of  Our  Lord's  miracles  is  the  world  of  nature, 
which  in  a  variety  of  ways  felt  the  effect  of  His  unlimited 
power.  At  His  will  a  substance  was  changed  into  another, 
as  at  Cana  of  Galilee,  or  was  almost  indefinitely  increased, 
as  in  the  twofold  multiplication  of  loaves.  At  other  times 
the  laws  which  govern  the  physical  universe  seemed 
deprived  of  all  force  in  His  presence,  as  when  He  walked 
freely  upon  the  sea  or  stilled  the  storm.  This  first  kind  of 
miracles  had  a  great  influence  upon  the  minds  and  feelings 
of  Our  Lord's  contemporaries.  The  witnesses  of  these  won- 
derful deeds  felt  at  once  that  they  were  in  the  presence  of 


GOSPEL    MIRACLES.  175 

a  truly  divine  power,  and  this  feeling  led  them  to  praise 
God  and  to  ask  themselves  whether  Jesus  was  not  indeed 
the  expected  Messias. 

A  second  class  of  miracles  comprises  those  which  had 
man  for  their  object.  Apparently  every  great  form  of 
bodily  infirmity — blindness,  leprosy,  issue  of  blood,  deaf- 
ness, etc. — was  brought  before  our  merciful  Saviour,  who 
was  never  known  to  deny  a  miracle  of  healing  to  the 
expressed  or  silent  prayer  either  of  the  sufferers  or  of  their 
friends.  In  point  of  fact,  he  perceived  the  secret  wish  for 
relief  no  less  distinctly  than  the  most  explicit  and  open 
appeal  to  his  power  of  healing,  for  "  He  knew  what  was  in 
man."  This  knowledge  of  men's  intimate  thoughts,  whether 
of  His  enemies  or  of  His  friends,  or  of  those  with  whom  He 
came  in  contact,  Jesus  evinced  in  a  thousand  ways,  and  He 
ever  used  it  to  the  best  advantage  either  of  the  surrounding 
multitudes  or  of  those  who  were  made  aware  that  their 
innermost  feelings  did  not  escape  His  all-seeing  eye. 
Finally,  it  is  recorded  that  on  three  several  occasions  the 
lifeless  remains  of  man  felt  the  effect  of  His  power  over 
death,  and  these  three  great  miracles  were  well  calculated 
to  convince  all  that  He  was  indeed  "  the  resurrection  and 
the  life." 

A  third  class  of  miracles  has  reference  to  the  spirit- 
world,  and  in  this  connection  Jesus  exerting  His  miracu- 
lous power  appeared  as  the  Holy  One  of  God  who  had  come 
to  destroy  the  empire  of  Satan.  Despite  all  the  theories 
advanced  to  disprove  the  reality  of  demoniacal  possessions, 
it  must  be  admitted  that  a  careful  study  of  the  Gospel  nar- 
rative proves  that  in  this  respect  the  Evangelists  and  Our 
Lord  Himself  shared  and  approved  the  belief  of  their  con- 
temporaries. For  them,  as  for  all  those  around  them,  demo- 
niacal possessions  were  a  form  of  disease  distinguishable  from 
all  others,  and  expulsions  of  evil  spirits  were  events  of  real 
and  frequent  occurrence. 


176  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

The  last  subject  of  Our  Lord's  miracles  we  wish  to  men- 
tion here  consists  in  the  future  events  which  He  distinctly 
foretold.  He  spoke  with  the  confidence  of  one  who  is  per- 
fectly acquainted  with  the  future  respecting  His  own  per- 
son, His  church,  His  disciples,  His  enemies,  Jerusalem  and 
other  cities  of  His  country,  etc.,  and  we  all  know  with  what 
absolute  accuracy  His  predictions  have  been  fulfilled. 

3.  Chief  Characteristics  of  the  Gospel  Miracles. 
One  of  the  leading  characteristics  of  the  miracles  recorded 
in  the  Gospels  is  their  appropriateness  as  proofs  of  Our 
Lord's  divine  mission  and  character.  Not  only  were  they 
actions  making  exception  to  all  the  laws  of  nature,  they  were 
also  the  very  deeds  which  the  prophets  of  old*  had  led  Our 
Lord's  contemporaries  f  to  regard  as  the  credentials  of  the 
future  Messias.  Performed  in  the  full  blaze  of  the  mid-day 
sun,  in  the  streets,  in  the  public  places,  in  the  presence  of 
immense  crowds,  they  appealed  powerfully  to  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  people  at  large,  as  well  as  to  the  reason  of 
thoughtful  observers.  No  wonder,  then,  that  Jesus  repeat- 
edly pointed  to  His  miracles  as  clear  signs  of  His  divine 
mission  and  character,  and  that  unbiased  men,  whatever 
their  rank  in  society,  feeling  that  these  were  not  the  deeds 
of  one  leagued  with  Beelzebub,  as  the  Jewish  leaders 
affirmed,  were  led  to  recognize  Jesus  as  a  prophet,  as  the 
Son  of  David  and  the  expected  Messias. 

A  second  and  no  less  striking  characteristic  of  Our  Lord's 
miracles  is  the  perfect  mastery  over  all  things  which  they 
evince.  As  stated  above,  the  subject  of  His  miracles  is 
coextensive  with  all  creation  :  all  the  elements  of  nature, 
all  the  diseases  of  the  body,  however  inveterate,  death  itself 
and  the  powers  of  hell,  are  subject  to  His  command;  men's 
most  intimate  thoughts  do  not  escape  His  notice,  and  the 
future  has  no  obscurity  for  His  mental  vision.  He,  indeed, 
moves  in  this  world  as  the  supreme  Master  of  all  things. 

*  ISAi.  xlii.  I  sq.  t  John  vii.  31. 


GOSPEL    MIRACLES.  177 

Unlike  the  prophets  of  old,  and  the  holy  servants  of  God 
through  ages,  He  performs  miracles  in  His  own  name  with 
the  greatest  ease,  and  as  men  are  wont  to  do  their  simplest 
actions.  He  has  only  to  will,  to  say  the  word,  and  the 
effects,  however  astonishing,  come  to  pass;  and  as  His  is  not 
simply  a  delegated  power,  He  can  impart  it  to  whomsoever 
He  wills,  and  thereby  cause  his  numerous  messengers  to 
perform  similar  wonders  in  His  name. 

Intimately  connected  with  this  perfect  mastery  over  all 
things  is  the  marvellous  simplicity  with  which  it  was  exer- 
cised. Examine  the  Gospel  miracles  one  after  another  and 
you  will  find  none  performed  as  a  mere  display  of  power. 
They  all  arose  naturally  out  of  their  occasions,  they  all 
served  a  useful  purpose  in  connection  with  Our  Lord's  per- 
sonal mission,  and  neither  before  nor  after  their  perform- 
ance can  the  least  trace  of  ostentation  or  self-satisfaction  be 
discovered  on  the  part  of  Jesus.  Viewed  from  this  stand- 
point, Our  Lord's  miracles  offer  the  most  striking  contrast 
to  the  puerile,  extravagant,  grotesque,  not  to  say  absurd, 
character  of  the  miracles  ascribed  to  Him  in  the  Apoc- 
ryphal Gospels  :  *  the  former  are  manifest  proofs  of 
divine  wisdom,  the  latter  are  but  the  play  of  human  fancy. 

But  the  miracles  of  Jesus  appear  much  more  deeds  of 
His  merciful  love  and  tender  compassion  than  works  of  His 
wisdom  and  power.  As  has  been  beautifully  said  by  a  con- 
temporary writer,  "This  power  which  he  wielded  so  royally, 
which  He  held  back  so  mightily,  so  that  no  provocation,  no 
danger,  no  treason,  no  contempt  could  induce  Him  to  use 
it  in  His  own  defence,  seemed  to  escape  from  His  control 
when  there  was  question  of  doing  good  to  others.  Let  Him 
meet  the  poor  or  the  sick,  and  swift  as  lightning  this  divine 
power  escaped  from  His  heart  in  acts  of  love.      Sometimes 

*  Cfr.  the  Gospel  of  James,  chaps,  xviii.,  xxii.,  xxiv. ;  the  Gospel  of  Thomas 
chaps,  ii.,  iv.,v.  ;  the  Gospel  of  Pseudo-MATTHKW,  chaps.  xxvi.,xzix. ;  the  Arabic  Gos- 
pel of  the  Infancy,  chaps,  xxxviii.,  xxxix.,  xl. 


178  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

it  would  almost  seem  as  though  He  were  no  longer  the 
Master  of  it,  as  in  the  incomparable  history  of  the  poor 
woman  who  approached  Him  humbly  from  behind,  saying, 
*  If  I  can  but  touch  the  hem  of  His  garment  I  shall  be 
cured.'  On  certain  occasions  He  even  gave  way  to  tears 
and  groanings,  and  unwonted  trouble,  which  bore  witness 
to  the  intensity  of  His  love.  Who  does  not  recall  the 
impulse  of  mercy  which  touched  Him  at  Naim,  by  the  side 
of  the  bier  of  the  only  son  and  the  sorrowing  mother  ?  .  .  . 
How  shall  we  forget  the  unwonted  agitation  which  He 
manifested  at  the  tomb  of  Lazarus  !  "  *  Almost  all  the 
miracles  of  Jesus  were  prompted  by  His  compassion  for  the 
needs  of  others,  and  this  is  why  St.  Peter,  reminding  his 
hearers  of  what  had  been  the  most  constant  and  the  most 
salient  feature  of  Our  Lord's  public  life,  said  that  Jesus 
"  went  about  doing  good  and  healing  all  that  were  oppressed 
by  the  devil."  t 

A  last  characteristic  to  be  mentioned  here  in  connection 
with  Our  Lord's  miracles  consists  in  this:  they  were  never 
wrought  for  self.  Search  the  Gospels  and  you  will  find 
that  while  Jesus  multiplies  His  miracles  in  behalf  of  others, 
He  acts  towards  Himself  as  if  He  were  absolutely  powerless 
to  supply  His  own  wants  in  a  miraculous  manner.  Rather 
than  to  resort  to  His  power  of  performing  miracles,  He  pre- 
fers to  suffer  hunger  and  thirst,  to  be  absolutely  destitute  of 
the  things  of  this  world,  to  flee  from  His  enemies  as  long  as 
His  own  hour  has  not  come,  and  then  to  be  arrested,  tried 
and  sentenced  to  the  most  ignominious  and  cruel  death  of 
the  cross.  Indeed,  no  clearer  proof  could  be  given  than 
all  He  voluntarily  endured,  and  that  during  His  entire 
mortal  life  He  was  the  divine  victim  sent  to  atone  for  the 
sins  of  the  world. 

*  Cfr.  BouGAUD  (transl.  C.  L.  Cukkib),  An  Aigument  for  the  Dmnity  of  Jesus 

Christ,  pp.  54,  55- 
t  Acts  x.  38. 


SYNOPSIS   OF   CHAPTER  XVI. 
The  Last  Days  of  Christ^s  Public  Ministry. 


I. 

Final 

Journey  to  ^ 
Jerusalem: 


C  The     road     followed :     why 
I.  FromEphrem]      chosen? 

to  Jericho:   1  Jesus  and  the  Pharisees. 
I  Our  Lord  and  the  twelve. 


2.  Through 
Jericho: 


3.  At  Bethany: 


j  The  two  blind  men  healed. 
(  Zacheus,  a  son  of  Abraham. 


Anointing  of  Our  Lord 


Conspiracy  of   the 
chief    priests 
against 


1" 

(  J 


Lazarus 
and 
esus. 


n. 

Beginning 
OF  Passion 

Week: 
(April  2-5, 

A.D.  30.) 


1.  Palm  Sunday:  Triumphal  Entry  into  Jerusalem. 

•Kjr     ^        j  Cursing  of  the  fig-tree:  its  meaning. 

2.  Monaay:^  Second  cleansing  of  the  Temple. 


3.  Tuesday:- 


In  the 
Temple; 


'The   parables  delivered: 

their  significance. 
Vain  attempts  of  all  the 
sections  of  His  enemies 
to  ensnare  Jesus. 


On  the  Mount  of  Olives  :  last  pro- 
phecies and  parables. 

Plot  against  Jesus.  The  traitor's 
covenant. 


.Wednesday:  Seclusion  at  Bethany. 
179 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

THE    LAST    DAYS    OF    CHRIST's   PUBLIC    MINISTRY. 

§  I.  Final  Journey  to  Jerusalem. 

I.  From  Ephrem  to  Jericho.  After  a  seclusion  of 
several  weeks  Our  Lord  left  Ephrem  and  started  on  His 
final  journey  to  Jerusalem.  As  He  intended  soon  to  make 
His  triumphal  entry  into  the  Holy  City  at  the  head  of  great 
multitudes,  He  so  directed  His  steps  as  to  meet  the  cara- 
vans which  from  the  north  and  from  the  east  were  already 
moving  towards  Jerusalem  on  the  approach  of  the  Paschal 
celebration.  Accordingly  He  went  northward  through 
Samaria,  and  next  eastward  on  the  border-land  between 
that  province  and  Galilee,  to  meet  in  the  plain  of  the 
Jordan  the  Galilean  caravans.  Then  He  crossed  the 
Jordan  and  kept  along  the  river-banks,  where  He  was  joined 
by  the  Jewish  caravans  coming  from  the  east,  and  together 
with  them  He  recrossed  the  Jordan  at  a  ford  nearly  oppo- 
site Jericho.* 

Scarcely  had  Jesus  re-entered  public  life,  when  the 
Pharisees  reappeared,  pursuing  Him.  With  mockery  they 
inquired  of  Him  when  all  His  preparatory  preaching  of  the 
Messianic  kingdom  would  be  at  an  end,  and  the  new  king- 
dom begin.  Our  Lord's  answer  was  a  complete  condemna- 
tion of  the  manner  in  which  His  enemies  thought  the  Mes- 
sianic kingdom  should  appear.  He  affirmed  in  opposition 
to  their  views  that  no  great  external  signs  would  usher  it  in, 

♦  LuK"  xvii.  i»^  Matt.  xix.  i;  Mark  x.  i.  Cfr.  Fouard,  vol.  ii.,  p.  131,  footno««  i. 

180 


THE    LAST    DAYS   OF    CHRIST'S    PUBLIC    MINISTRY.       l8l 

and  that  no  magnificent  court  would  surround  the  new 
King,  so  that  no  throng  attracted  by  His  apparel  could 
say  :  "  He  is  here  !  He  is  here  I  "  Indeed,  the  kingdom 
they  still  expected  had  already  begun  in  their  midst,  and 
they  were  not  aware  of  the  fact.*  However  humbling  to 
their  pride  Our  Lord's  condemnation  of  their  Messianic 
views  may  have  appeared  in  the  eyes  of  the  Pharisees,  His 
words  in  several  other  circumstances  were  still  more  cal- 
culated to  wound  their  sensibilities.f 

Meantime,  Jesus  was  actively  engaged  in  training  His 
disciples  for  their  apostolic  mission  and  for  His  near 
departure  from  them.  Among  the  special  instructions  He 
gave  them  during  this  period,  we  may  notice  in  particular 
His  teachings  about  celibacy,  as  about  a  special  calling  in 
life  higher  in  its  nature  than  that  of  matrimony.  J  His 
main  efforts,  however,  were  plainly  directed  towards  prepar- 
ing their  minds  and  feelings  for  His  coming  passion  and 
death. §  Yet  their  preconceived  notions  about  the  victories 
of  the  Messias  over  the  enemies  of  the  Jews,  and  about 
His  glorious  earthly  rule,  prevented  them  from  realizing 
the  plain  import  of  Our  Lord's  words.  ||  In  fact,  as 
various  troops  of  pilgrims  fell  in  with  the  crowds  which 
already  surrounded  Jesus,  and  as  they  greeted  Him  with 
enthusiasm,  the  apostles  shared  the  common  belief  that  at 
length  their  Master  would  very  soon  begin  His  glorious 
rule.^  This  explains  to  us  how,  only  a  few  hours  after  one 
of  His  most  explicit  predictions  of  the  ignominious  treat- 
ment He  was  to  suffer  at  the  hands  of  the  Gentiles,  two 
disciples  of  Jesus,  James  and  John — probably  instigated  by 
Salome,  their  mother — laid  an  open  claim  on  the  highest 
honors  of  Our  Lord's  kingdom.  The  jealousy  of  the  other 
apostles  was  at  once  aroused  by  this  ambitious  request  of 

*  LuKB  xvii.  20,  21.  t  Cfr.  Luke  xviii,  9-14 ;  Matt.  xix.  1-9  ;  Mask  x.  1-9. 

X  Matt.  xix.  10-12.  §  Cfr.  Luke  xvii.  25  ;  xviii.  31  ;  Mark  x.  32. 

I  Luke  xviii.  34.  H  Lukb  xix.  11. 


l82  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

the  two  brothers,  and  Jesus  profited  by  this  new  outburst 
of  their  love  of  superiority  and  power,  to  teach  them  a 
lesson  most  important  for  themselves  and  for  their  suc- 
cessors in  the  holy  ministry.  He  plainly  told  them  that, 
however  it  might  be  among  the  rulers  and  leading  men  of 
the  world,  greatness  among  his  disciples  was  to  be  attained 
only  by  the  humble  and  faithful  discharge  of  their  arduous 
mission,  "  as  the  Son  of  Man  also,"  He  added,  "  came  not 
to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  His  life 
a  redemption  for  many."  * 

2.  Through  Jericho. t  Havingcrossedthe  Jordan,  Jesus 
soon  arrived  at  Jericho,  an  important  town  5  or  6  miles  west 
of  the  Jordan  and  between  15  and  20  miles  northeast  of 
Jerusalem.  In  connection  with  this  town  the  Synoptists 
agree  in  recording  a  miracle  of  healing  as  performed  by  Our 
Lord  at  its  gate,  but  they  seem  to  be  at  variance  on  the  two 
following  points  :  (i)  while  St.  Matthew  states  that  two 
blind  men  received  their  sight  from  Jesus,  St.  Mark  and  St. 
Luke  speak  only  of  one  man  ;  (2)  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark 
affirm  that  the  miracle  was  performed  on  Christ's  departure 
from  Jericho  ;  St.  Luke  says,  on  the  contrary,  that  it  oc- 
curred when  "  He  drew  nigh  "  that  city.J; 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  these  discrepancies,  it  was 
certainly  at  but  a  few  miles  from  Jerusalem  that  Jesus  ac- 
cepted again  the  Messianic  title  of  "  Son  of  David,"  pub- 
licly given  Him  by  the  blind  men  of  Jericho,  and  that  in 
imparting  to  them  the  special  blessing  they  asked  for.  He 
proved  Himself  to  be  the  Messias  predicted  by  the  prophets 

*  Mark  x.  35-45.        +  Matt.  xx.  29-34;  Mark.  x.  46-52;  Luke  xviii.  35;  xix.  28. 

t  The  three  narratives  resemble  one  another  so  closely  that  it  is  difficult  not  to  admit, 
with  Maldonatus  and  other  commentators,  that  the  Evangelists  describe  but  one  and 
the  same  event  (^cfr.  Maldonatus,  in  Matt.  xx.  30).  The  only  reason  to  think  other- 
wise is  the  difficulty  of  reconciling  their  statements.  The  discrepancies  which  have  been 
noticed  are  met  differently  by  scholars,  according  to  the  views  they  hold  as  to  the  amount 
of  accuracy  of  detail  required  by  inspiration  (cfr.  Bruneau,  Harmony  of  the  Gospels,  p. 
89  sq.;  Knabenbauer,  in  S.  Matthaeum ;  Andrews,  pp.  417,  418  ;  see  also  Lagrangb, 
I'Inspiration  et  les  Exigences  de  la  Griftque,  Revue  Biblique,  Oct.  1896). 


THE    LAST    DAYS    OF    CHRIST'S    PUBLIC    MINISTRY.        183 

of  old.  *  It  is  true  that  in  the  eyes  of  many  His  conduct 
towards  Zacheus,  the  despised  chief  of  the  publicans  of 
Jericho,  appeared  at  first  unworthy  of  one  claiming  to  be 
the  holy  King  and  mighty  deliverer  of  the  Jews  ;  yet  when 
they  noticed  the  conversion  of  Zacheus  and  heard  Our 
Lord's  assertion  that  He  had  come  to  reclaim  the  lost  sons 
of  Abraham,  they  were  satisfied  that  Jesus  had  acted  in  a 
manner  worthy  of  the  Messias  whom  they  expected.  Nay 
more,  their  hopes  about  Him  ran  so  high,  under  the  circum- 
stances of  the  time,  that  "  they  thought  that  the  kingdom  of 
God  should  immediately  be  manifested."  It  was  to  coun- 
teract these  wild  expectations  of  His  immediate  enthrone- 
ment in  Jerusalem,  that  before  leaving  Jericho  Our  Lord  de- 
livered the  significant  parable  of  the  Pounds,  wherein  He 
suggested  that  He  must  first  take  His  departure  from  the 
midst  of  His  own  people,  and  that  only  on  His  glorious 
return  He  would  treat  both  friends  and  foes  according  to 
their  deserts. 

3.  At  Bethany,  f  While  the  pilgrims  who  had  already 
reached  Jerusalem  debated  among  themselves  whether 
Jesus  would  come  for  the  Paschal  festival.  Our  Lord  left 
Jericho  and  proceeded  towards  the  Holy  City.  On  the 
sixth  day  "  before  the  Pasch  "  He  arrived  in  Bethany  and 
repaired  to  the  house  of  Martha  and  Mary,  which  He  in- 
tended to  make  His  home  during  the  last  week  of  His 
mortal  life.  At  the  end  of  the  next  day  (probably  Satur- 
day, April  I,  30  A.D.)  a  supper  was  prepared  for  Him  and 
for  His  disciples.  Lazarus  was  there,  and  Martha  served. 
As  they  were  at  table,  Mary  came  behind  the  couch  on 
which  Jesus  reclined,  and  poured  on  His  sacred  head  and 
feet  a  most  precious  ointment,  the  sweet  odor  of  which 
filled  the  house.  This  costly  offering,  prompted  by  her 
love,  greatly  displeased  the  avaricious  Judas,  who  openly 
murmured  against  it  as  a  waste,  and  whose  view  about  the 

*  Cfr.  IsAi.  xlii.  1-7.  t  Matt.  xxvi.  6-13  ;  Mark  xiv.  3-9 ;  John  xi.  55;  xii.  11. 


184  OUTLINES    OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

matter  was  shared  by  some  others  of  the  disciples.  But  the 
action  of  Mary  was  highly  praised  by  Our  Saviour,  who  saw 
in  it  a  loving  homage  especially  connected  with  His  ap- 
proaching death  and  burial. 

Meanwhile  the  news  of  Our  Lord's  arrival  at  Bethany 
had  spread  through  the  Holy  City,  and  a  great  multitude  of 
Jews  hearing  it,  went  to  Bethany  to  see  Him  and  also  Laz- 
arus, whom  He  had  raised  from  the  dead.  Whereupon  the 
chief  priests,  who  had  already  decided  upon  the  death  of 
Jesus,  took  it  into  serious  consideration  whether  Lazarus 
also  should  not  be  put  to  death,  because  as  long  as  he 
should  live  he  would  be  the  means  of  inducing  many  to 
believe  in  Christ,  who  had  restored  him  to  life. 

§  2.  Beginning  of  Passion  Week  (April  2-5,  30  a.d.). 

I.  Palm  Sunday.  *    On  the  first  day  of  the  week  of  His 

passion — known  as  Palm  Sunday — Jesus  left  Bethany  about 
mid-day  to  effect  His  triumphal  entry  into  Jerusalem.  At- 
tended by  His  disciples  and  other  pilgrims,  He  probably 
followed  the  usual  road  for  horsemen  and  caravans,  and 
which  is  the  southernmost  of  the  three  roads  connecting 
Bethany  with  the  Holy  City.  Soon  Bethphage  was  in 
view,  and  according  to  His  directions,  two  of  Our  Lord's 
disciples  brought  to  Him  an  ass  and  a  colt,  whereon,  as  pre- 
dicted by  Zacharias  (ix.  9),  Jesus  wished  to  make  His  Mes- 
sianic entry  into  Jerusalem.  This  appeared  to  some  of  His 
disciples  the  signal  that  He  would  at  length  assume  the  rank 
and  title  which  they  believed  to  be  His  ;  and  placing  their 
outer  garments  on  the  yet  unbroken  colt,  as  a  kind  of  sad- 
dle, they  set  Jesus  thereon,  and  accompanied  Him  with 
joyful  acclamations. 

Thus  they  moved  on  towards  Jerusalem,  Lazarus  and  the 
apostles  near  Jesus,  and  a  great  multitude  following  Him. 

*  Matt.  xxi.  1-17  ;  Mark  xi.  i-ii ;  Lukk  xix.  29-44 ;  John  xii.  ia-19. 


THE    LAST    DAYS   OF    CHRIST's    PUBLIC    MINISTRY.       185 

This  multitude  shared  in  the  enthusiasm  of  Christ's  disci- 
ples, and  in  their  joyful  transports  strewed  their  outer  gar- 
ments and  palm  branches  in  the  way  of  our  divine  Saviour. 
Many  of  them  had  been  witnesses  of  the  raising  of  Lazarus, 
and  they  proclaimed,  as  they  advanced,  this  wonderful  deed 
of  Jesus.* 

When  the  long  and  triumphant  procession  reached  the 
point  of  the  road  where  first  begins  "  the  descent  of  Mount 
Olivet,"  f  the  multitudes  caught  the  first  view  of  the  Jewish 
capital,  and  this  sight  drew  from  them  shouts  of  triumph  : 
"Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David  !  Blessed  be  the  King  who 
coraeth  in  the  name  of  the  Lord:  Hosanna  in  the  highest !" 
It  was  indeed  as  a  king  that  on  that  glorious  day  Jesus  pre- 
sented Himself  to  the  Holy  City  and  to  its  rulers.  But  the 
future  was  not  hidden  from  His  eyes,  as  it  was  from  the 
eyes  of  all  those  who  surrounded  Him,  and  hence,  when  a 
short  while  after  the  multitudes  had  begun  their  hymns  of 
triumph,  the  road  allowed  Our  Saviour  to  contemplate  the 
whole  city  in  all  its  splendor.  He  wept  over  it,  and  described 
the  awful  fate  which  awaited  it  and  its  inhabitants. 

Probably  as  they  descended  the  Mount  of  Olives,  crowds 
from  Jerusalem  and  its  neighborhood  met  them,  attracted 
by  the  shouts  of  Our  Lord's  followers.  They,  too,  were 
bearing  branches  of  palm-trees,  and  turning  round,  they 
fell  in  with  the  procession  and  preceded  Jesus,  joyfully  pro- 
claiming Him  the  King  of  Israel. 

St.  Luke  informs  us  that  among  this  ever-growing  multi- 
tude there  were  Pharisees  who  would  have  had  Jesus  silence 
His  partisans.  Instead  of  rebuking  His  disciples  as  requested 
by  the  Pharisees,  Our  Lord  declared  that  this  public  proc- 
lamation of  His  Messianic  dignity  was  so  entirely  in  con- 
formity with  the  divine  designs,  that  "  if  these  should  hold 
their  peace,  the  stones  would  cry  out." 

When  the  triumphant  procession  entered  Jerusalem  the 

♦  John  xii.  17.  t  Luke  xix.  37. 


l86  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

whole  city  was  moved  ;  and  the  Pharisees  in  their  impotent 
rage  were  reduced  to  say  among  themselves  :  *'  Do  you  see 
that  we  prevail  nothing  ?  behold  the  whole  world  is  gone 
after  Him  !  "  while  the  Saviour  of  the  world  was  led  to  the 
Temple.  There  the  procession  dispersed,  the  Jewish  cus- 
toms not  allowing  the  pilgrims  to  come  near  the  sanctuary 
in  travelling  clothes  and  with  dusty  feet. 

It  was  late,  and  Our  Lord  simply  visited  the  Temple, 
**  viewing  all  things  round  about,"  as  if  He  would  observe 
whether  all  was  done  according  to  His  Father's  will,  and 
then  He  returned  to  Bethany  with  the  twelve  to  spend  the 
night.* 

2.  Monday. f  The  next  morning  Our  Lord  returned  to 
Jerusalem,  and  on  His  way  thither  He  saw  at  a  distance  by 
the  wayside,  a  fig-tree  which  had  an  appearance  of  bearing 
fruit.  He  went  to  it,  but  finding  nothing  but  leaves,  He 
doomed  the  tree  to  perpetual  barrenness  in  the  hearing  of 
His  disciples.J  In  this  action  of  Our  Lord  we  cannot  help 
recognizing  a  figure  of  the  decay  to  which  Israel  was  hence- 
forth and  forever  doomed,  because  Jesus  had  found  in  the 
Jewish  nation  nothing  but  the  appearances  of  righteousness. 

Entering  the  city  He  went  to  the  Temple,  the  desecra- 
tion of  which  He  had  noticed  the  evening  before.  The  old 
abuses  against  which  He  had  energetically  protested  at  the 
beginning  of  His  public  life  had  crept  in  again — nay  more, 
they  were  apparently  greater  than  at  the  time  of  the  first 
cleansing  of  the  Temple  by  Jesus.  He  therefore  cleansed 
a  second  time  the  house  of  His  Father,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  exercise  in  its  purified  courts  His  public  ministry 
of  teaching  and  healing.  His  doctrine  caused  the  admira- 
tion of  the  whole  multitude  around  Him,  and  His  wonder- 
ful deeds  of  healing  moved  the  children,  who  may  have  been 

♦Mark  xi.  ii. 

+  Matt.  xxi.  12-22  ;  MARKxi.  12-26:  Luke  lix.  4S-48. 

X  For  further  details  in  connection  with  this  cursing  of  the  fig-tree,  see  Fouard,  vol. 
ii ,  pp.  171,  172 ;  Trench,  On  Miracles ;  Fillion,  St.  Marc,  p.  162. 


THE    LAST    DAYS   OF    CHRIST'S    PUBLIC    MINISTRY.       187 

members  of  the  choir  of  singers  employed  in  the  Temple, 
to  re-echo  the  joyful  Hosannas  of  the  preceding  day.  The 
chief  priests  and  Scribes  in  their  displeasure  demanded  that 
He  should  put  a  stop  to  these  acclamations,  but  in  presence 
of  His  popularity  they  did  not  feel  able  to  proceed  farther 
with  their  murderous  designs.  At  evening  Our  Lord  re- 
turned to  Bethany. 

3.  Tuesday.*  The  next  day  Jesus  appeared  again  in 
the  Temple,  where  He  was  soon  met  by  an  official  deputa- 
tion from  the  Sanhedrim.  These  deputies  inquired  of  Him 
the  nature  and  origin  of  His  mission,  pretending  thereby 
that  they  were  competent  judges  of  His  claims  to  a  divine 
mission.  But  Our  Lord  showed  clearly  to  them,  that  if — 
as  they  affirmed  themselves — they  were  not  able  to  decide 
whether  the  baptism  administered  by  John  was  of  heaven 
or  not,  He  had  a  perfect  right  not  to  consider  them  compe- 
tent judges  of  the  character  and  origin  of  His  own  mission. 
Then  He  proceeded  to  tell  them  in  parables,  whose  mean- 
ing they  could  not  help  realizing,  that  since  they  had  re- 
jected all  the  divine  warnings,  they  in  turn  would  be  re- 
jected, together  with  their  capital  and  nation,  to  give  place 
to  a  new  theocratic  people  yielding  fruits  worthy  of  God's 
kingdom. 

Never  had  the  words  of  Jesus  been  calculated  to  wound 
more  deeply  the  personal  and  national  pride  of  the  different 
sections  of  the  Sanhedrim  that  had  been  deputed  to  Him, 
and  this  is  why  Pharisees,  Sadducees  and  Scribes  attempted 
in  turn  to  ensnare  Him  by  their  captious  questions.  To  the 
Pharisees  who  asked  Him  whether  it  was  lawful  to  give  trib- 
ute to  Csesar,  Our  Saviour  answered  that  they  could  not 
have  accepted  the  coins  of  the  emperor  without  recogniz- 
ing his  sovereignty  and  thereby  declaring  it  lawful  to  pay 
him  tribute.  The  question  put  to  Christ  by  the  Sadducees 
betrayed  their  disbelief  of  a  future  life,  and   He  clearly 

♦  Matt.  xxi.  20 ;  xxv.  46 ;  Mark  xi.  20 ;  xiii.  37;  Luke  xx.  i;  xxi.  38 ;  John  xii.  20-50. 


l88  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

showed  that  their  frame  of  mind  had  no  other  basis  than 
their  ignorance  of  the  infinite  power  of  God  and  of  the  exact 
meaning  of  the  Mosaic  Law.  After  this  direct  and  precise 
answer  of  Jesus  to  one  of  the  standing  difficulties  of  the 
Sadducees  against  the  popular  belief  of  a  future  resurrec- 
tion, one  of  the  Scribes  was  deputed  to  ask  Him,  with  a 
view  to  ensnare  Him,  "  Which  is  the  great  commandment  in 
the  Law  ? "  He  also  received  a  fully  satisfactory  answer,  the 
wisdom  of  which  he  even  acknowledged  with  genuine  ad- 
miration. 

But  Our  Lord  had  been  long  enough  upon  the  defensive. 
He  therefore  proceeded  to  put  to  a  test  the  knowledge  of 
His  adversaries  by  one  single  question.  He  inquired  of 
them  how  the  Messias  could  be  the  son  of  David,  and  yet 
be  called  "  Lord  "  by  David  himself,  speaking  under  the 
inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  was  a  topic  about 
which  the  leaders  of  the  Jews  should  apparently  have  had 
a  ready  and  distinct  answer,  yet  "  no  man  was  able  to 
answer  Him  a  word,"  and  this  is  why  "  no  man  durst  from 
that  day  forth  ask  Him  any  more  questions."  In  conse- 
quence of  this  avowed  ignorance  of  the  Sanhedrists,  Jesus 
was  fully  justified  in  the  eyes  of  all  to  denounce  the  blind- 
ness and  pride  of  His  deadly  enemies,  and  then  He  gave 
vent  to  the  tender  feelings  of  His  compassionate  heart 
about  the  coming  ruin  of  Jerusalem  and  its  sanctuary, 
hurried  on  by  the  guilty  leaders  of  the  Jewish  nation. 

As  Our  Lord  left  the  Temple  He  foretold  again  its  utter 
destruction,  and  this  led  some  of  His  disciples  to  inquire 
"  privately  "  about  the  time  and  signs  of  this  awful  calamity. 
It  is  probably  when  seated  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  opposite 
the  Temple,  that  Jesus  uttered  His  last  prophecies  concern- 
ing the  ruin  of  the  Holy  City  and  the  end  of  the  world,  and 
that  in  this  connection  He  delivered  the  parables  of  the  Ten 
Virgins  and  of  the  Talents  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of 
His  hearers  the  constant  duty  of  watchfulness  and  faithful- 


THE   LAST   DAYS   OF   CHRIST'S   PUBLIC    MINISTRY.       1 89 

ness.  To  this  He  added  a  description  of  the  last  judgment, 
and  He  concluded  by  a  prediction  of  the  occasion^  the  man- 
ner and  the  very  day  of  His  sufferings  and  death. 

While  Our  Saviour  was  thus  predicting  to  His  disciples 
that  He  was  to  suffer  and  to  be  crucified  during  the  Paschal 
festival,  the  chief  priests  and  ancients  of  the  people,  in  a 
meeting  at  the  palace  of  Caiphas,  had  resolved  not  to  arrest 
Him  during  the  feast  for  fear  of  the  multitudes.  But  Our 
Lord's  prediction  was  fulfilled  in  a  way  His  enemies  were 
far  from  anticipating.  Judas,  one  of  the  twelve,  came  to 
them  and  offered,  for  money,  to  betray  Jesus  secretly  into 
their  hands.  Great  indeed  was  the  joy  of  the  leaders  of 
Israel  at  this  unexpected  offer,  and  they  covenanted  to  give 
Judas  thirty  pieces  of  silver  (about  $18.70),  while  he,  on  his 
part,  agreed  to  watch  for  a  favorable  opportunity  to  betray 
his  Master  to  them. 

Our  Lord's  public  ministry  closes  with  Holy  Tuesday 
(April  4th),  for  He  does  not  seem  to  have  returned  to  Jeru- 
salem the  following  day,  which  He  probably  spent  in  seclu- 
sion  at  Bethany. 


SYNOPSIS   OF  CHAPTER   XVII. 
The  Last  Pasch  Celebrated  by  Our  Lord. 


I. 

Preparations 

FOR  THE 

Paschal 
Meal: 


1.  By  Whom  and  In  What  Place  Made. 

2.  On  What  Day  ?  Thursday  After-  /Nisan  I4.\ 

noon  ^  April  6.  J 


II. 

The  Last 
Supper: 


I.  The  Jewish  Paschal  Meal  in  the  Time  of  Our 
Lord. 


2.  Particulars 
of        Our 
Lord's  Last^ 
Supper: 


(  Placing  of  guests. 
Arrival:  ■<  Contention     as     to 
(      rank. 

First  cup  and  washing  of  feet. 

References  to  betrayal.  De- 
parture of  Judas. 

Institution  of  the  Holy  Eu- 
charist. 


3.  After  t  h  e  (  Our     Lord's     lengthened     dis- 
Last  Sup-"!      course  and  closing  prayer, 
per:  (  Departure  from  the  supper  room. 

190 


i./iRD  PERIOD: 

THE  PASSION  AND  RESURRECTION. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  LAST  PASCH  CELEBRATED  BY  OUR  LORD. 

§  I.  Preparations  for  the  Paschal  MeaL 

I.  By  Whom  and  in  What  Place  Made.  Leaving 
aside  the  traitor  Judas,  who  was  ordinarily  in  charge  of  such 
affairs,*  Our  Lord  selected  Peter  and  John  to  make  the  neces- 
sary preparations  for  the  Paschal  supper.  He  bade  them  go 
to  the  Holy  City  and  enter  a  house,  which  He  pointed  out 
to  them  only  in  general,  though  sufficient,  terms,  for  He  did 
not  wish  to  indicate  this  house  or  its  owner  in  a  clearer 
manner  in  the  hearing  of  His  betrayer.  They  were  to  ask 
the  owner  of  this  house  for  a  very  humble  apartment,  but 
as  Jesus  predicted,  he  would  place  at  their  disposal  an  upper 
room,  that  is,  the  most  honorable  place  of  his  house,  and  which 
he  had  already  furnished  and  made  ready  in  view  of  the 
Paschal  celebration,  f  It  was,  then,  to  this  upper  room  that 
Peter  and  John  had  to  carry  the  lamb  after  they  had  slain 
it  in  the  Temple,  and  to  bring  the  unleavened  cakes,  bitter 
herbs,  wine,  etc.,  required  for  the  Paschal  supper.  % 

*  John  xii.  6;  xiii.  29. 

t  In  the  present  day,  a  minaret  rises  above  the  Coenaculum  or  hall  pointed  out  by 
tradition  as  the  upper  room  used  by  Our  Lord  for  His  last  supper.  The  hall  is  some 
50  feet  in  length  by  30  in  width. 

X  LuKB  xxii.  7-13 ;  Matt.  xxvi.  17-19;  Mark  xiv.  12-16. 

191 


192  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

2.  On  What  Day  was  this  Last  Pasch  Prepared  ? 

The  answer  to  this  question  depends  on  the  day  we  must 
admit  for  the  last  supper  of  Our  Lord,  for  it  is  beyond  doubt 
that  Jesus  ate  His  last  supper  on  the  evening  of  the  day  on 
which  it  was  prepared  by  St.  Peter  and  St.  John.  Now,  it 
we  consult  the  Evangelists,  we  shall  find  that  there  is  an 
apparent  contradiction  between  the  Synoptists  and  St.  John, 
concerning  the  day  on  which  Our  Lord  ate  His  last  supper. 
The  former  state  plainly  *  that  Our  Lord's  last  supper  took 
place  on  the  legal  day  for  the  celebration  of  the  Pasch 
(Thursday,  Nisan  14th,  April  6th)  ;  the  latter,  on  the  con- 
trary, seems  to  say  that  this  last  supper  occurred  one  day 
before  the  Pasch  was  celebrated  by  the  Jews,t  and  con- 
sequently that  the  legal  day  for  the  Paschal  celebration  was 
only  Friday  evening,  April  7th. 

It  is  impossible  to  detail  and  examine  here  the  various 
theories  which  have  been  advanced  in  connection  with  this 
difficult  question.  Suffice  it  to  say,  (i)  that  we  should 
reject  every  theory  which  holds  that  Jesus  ate  His  last 
supper  before  the  14th  of  Nisan,  for  in  such  case  Christ's 
last  supper  would  not  have  been  a  Paschal  meal,  contrary 
to  what  we  read  in  St.  Luke  (xxii.  15)  ;  (2)  that  a  careful 
study  of  the  sacred  text  shows  that  two  of  the  passages  of 
St.  John  above  referred  to  \  must  be  understood  as  referring 
to  the  same  day  as  the  Synoptists,  while  the  other  two  §  can 
easily  be  interpreted  in  the  same  harmonious  manner.  We 
therefore  admit  that  St.  John  agrees  with  the  first  three 
Evangelists  in  placing  Our  Lord's  last  supper  on  Nisan 
14th,  Thursday,  April  6th  ;  so  that  the  preparations  for  this 
last  supper  must  have  been  made  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
same  day.  |{ 

♦  Matt.  xxvi.  17 ;  Mark  xiv.  12  ;  Luke  xxii.  7. 

t  Cfr.  John  xiii.  i,  29 ;  xviii.  28 ;  xix.  14. 

X  John  xiii.  29  ;  xix.  14.  §  John  xiii.  i ;  xviii.  28. 

II  Cfr.  Andrews,  pp.  452-481;  Vigouroux,  Dictionnaire  de  la  Bible,  art.  Cine; 
Bruneau,  Harmony  of  the  Gospels,  p.  no;  Hastings,  Bible  Dictionary,  vol.  i.,  p. 
410  sq. 


THE  LAST  PASCH  CELEBRATED  BY  OUR  LORD.    1 93 

§  2.    The  Last  Supper. 

I.  The  Jewish  Paschal  Meal  in  the  Time  of  Our 
Lord.  The  Paschal  supper  which  Jesus  had  longed  so 
ardently  to  celebrate  with  His  disciples  *  was  probably  con- 
ducted as  follows  by  His  Jewish  contemporaries  :  The 
party,  varying  in  number  between  ten  and  twenty  persons, 
met  in  the  evening  and  reclined  on  couches  disposed  along 
three  sides  of  a  low.  Eastern  table.  The  supper  opened 
with  a  cup  of  wine  mingled  with  water,  which  the  master  of 
the  household  or  the  person  who  presided  had  prepared 
and  blessed,  and  of  which  all  present  partook.  Thereupon 
all  washed  their  hands,  another  blessing  being  at  the  same 
:ime  pronounced.  The  different  dishes  of  the  feast,  the 
lamb,  the  unleavened  bread,  the  bitter  herbs  and  the  thick 
sauce  (called  the  Charoseth),  were  next  placed  on  the 
table,  and  the  president,  dipping  some  of  the  bitter  herbs 
into  the  Charoseth,  ate  of  them  and  gave  to  others.  Then 
the  person  who  presided  explained  the  meaning  of  the  fes- 
tival, and  the  whole  party,  sharing  in  his  gratitude  to 
Jehovah,  sang  the  first  part  of  the  Hallel,  that  is.  Psalm 
cxiii.  and  part  of  Psalm  cxiv.,  after  which  prayer  was  offered 
and  the  second  cup  drunk. 

The  head  of  the  party  washes  his  hands  for  the  second 
time,  breaks  one  of  the  cakes  of  unleavened  bread,  blesses 
it,  and  all  partake  of  it,  dipping  the  portions  of  it  with  the 
bitter  herbs  into  the  Charoseth.  The  flesh  of  the  lamb  was 
now  eaten,  and  another  blessing  pronounced,  when  the 
third  cup,  or  Cup  of  Blessing,  was  handed  round.  This 
was  succeeded  by  the  fourth,  called  the  Cup  of  Hallel, 
because  the  second  part  of  the  Hallel  (Psalm  cxiv.,  second 
part;  Psalms  cxv.-cxvii.)  was  now  sung,  and  this  concluded 
the  supper. 

With  these  details  before  our  minds  we  can  easily  under* 

*  Luke  xxii.  15. 


194  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORYc 

Stand  several  particulars  of  Our  Lord's  last  Paschal  supper, 
as  recorded  in  the  sacred  narrative. 
2.  Particulars  of  Our  Lord's  Last  Suppen    It  was 

probably  in  taking  their  places  on  the  couches  around  the 
table  that  the  contention  as  to  rank  arose  among  the  dis- 
ciples. They  wished  (following  probably  in  this  the  custom 
of  the  Pharisees  of  the  time)  to  recline  at  this  important 
meal  according  to  their  rank,  and  this  contest  for  prece- 
dence drew  from  Our  Lord's  lips  a  well-deserved  rebuke.  * 
The  contest  once  over,  St.  John  occupied  the  place  on  Our 
Lord's  right,  so  that  his  head  could  easily  repose  on  the 
bosom  of  Jesus  ;  St.  Peter,  stung  by  his  Master's  rebuke, 
had  probably  rushed  with  his  ordinary  impetuosity  to  take 
the  lowest  place  at  the  other  end  of  the  table,  opposite  St. 
John,  to  whom  he  could  therefore  easily  beckon  to  ask  who 
the  traitor  was  ;  f  finally,  Judas  occupied  very  likely  the 
place  immediately  on  Our  Lord's  left,  as  is  suggested  by 
several  particulars  of  the  Gospel  narrative. t 

The  disciples  having  reclined  at  table,  Jesus,  as  the  head 
of  the  party,  "  took  the  chalice,  gave  thanks  and  said, 
Take  and  divide  it  among  you."  §  This  was  the  first  cup 
of  the  Jewish  Paschal  supper,  and  when  it  had  passed 
round,  the  next  ceremony  was  the  washing  of  hands,  which 
St.  John  probably  records  as  transformed  by  his  divine 
Master  into  the  washing  of  feet.  For  this  menial  office, 
usually  performed  by  slaves,  Jesus  left  aside  His  garments, 
poured  water  into  the  basin,  placed  as  usual  at  the  end  of 
the  table,  and  came  first  to  Peter,  the  nearest  of  all,  and 
over  whose  resistance  He  finally  prevailed.  He  washed  in 
succession  the  feet  of  all,  not  without,  however,  making  an 
obscure  allusion  to  the  betrayal  of  Judas  :  "  You  are  clean, 
but  not  all."  \     Then  He  resumed  His  garments,  took  His 

♦  LuKB  xxii.  24-30.  t  John  xiii.  33-a5- 

X  Matt.  xxvi.  23,  25  ;  John  xiii.  26-28.    See  Edershbim,  Life  of  Je9QS,  vol.  ii.,  p- 

494  *q. 

I  LuKB  xdL  17.  I  John  xiii.  xo. 


THE  LAST  PASCH  CELEBRATED  BV  OUR  LORD.    I95 

place  again  at  table,  and  as  the  Jewish  meal  proceeded  He 
explained  to  His  disciples  the  meaning  of  so  mysterious  an 
action  :  He  had  given  them  an  example  of  humility  which 
they  should  imitate  so  as  to  secure  to  themselves  eternal 
bliss.  * 

One  of  them,  however,  would  be  by  his  own  fault 
excluded  from  the  promised  reward,  and  this  is  why  Jesus 
added,  "  I  speak  not  of  you  all";  and  He  then  referred  to 
the  prediction  made  long  centuries  before,  that  He  would 
be  betrayed  by  one  of  His  disciples,  f  But  the  apostles  did 
not  heed  this  new  reference  to  the  betrayal,  probably 
because  of  their  joy  while  singing  the  first  part  of  the 
Hallel  and  drinking  the  second  cup.  But  Our  Saviour  was 
far  from  rejoicing  ;  indeed,  "  He  was  troubled  in  spirit,'' 
and  when  He  made  a  new  and  more  explicit  reference  to 
the  betrayer,  *'  Amen,  Amen,  I  say  to  you,  one  of  you  shall 
betray  Me,"  all  the  disciples  remained  at  first  amazed,  and 
next  asked,  "  Lord,  is  it  I  ?"  J  Our  Lord's  answer  left  still 
the  special  person  undetermined,  but  He  added  an  awful 
woe  against  the  betrayer.  Judas,  in  his  turn,  repeated,  "  Is 
it  I  ?  "  and  Jesus  gave  him  an  affirmative  answer,  which  the 
traitor  alone  could  hear  because  of  his  nearness  to  Our 
Lord.  §  Unable  to  discover  otherwise  who  was  to  betray 
his  Master,  St.  Peter  beckoned  to  the  beloved  disciple,  who 
then,  changing  a  little  his  posture,  leaned  back  on  the  sacred 
bosom  of  Jesus,  asking  Him  who  was  to  be  the  betrayer, 
and  received  as  a  sign  the  giving  of  the  sop  which  probably 
followed  the  second  cup.  This  sop  consisted  of  a  morsel  of 
the  Paschal  lamb,  together  with  a  piece  of  unleavened  bread 
and  some  bitter  herbs,  and  it  was  first  handed  to  Judas  by 
Our  Lord,  who  then  added,  "  That  which  thou  dost,  do 
quickly."     Judas  "  went  out  immediately,"  for  as  he  had 

*  John  xiii.  1-17.  t  John  xiii.  i8-ao. 

%  Matt.  xxvi.  ai,  32 ;  Mark  xiv.  i8-ai ;  Luke  xxii.  31-23  ;  John  xiii.  31, 33. 

\  Matt,  xzvL  23-35 ;  Mark  xiv.  ao,  3x. 


196  OUTLINES  OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

eaten  the  Pasch  he  could  now  leave  for  business  purposes 
or  for  giving  alms  to  the  poor,  so  that  "  no  man  at  table 
knew  "  the  reason  of  his  departure.  The  precise  time  at 
which  Judas  left  the  upper  room  has  ever  been  a  matter  of 
discussion  in  the  Church,  yet  it  seems  very  probable  that  he 
went  out  before  Our  Lord  instituted  the  Holy  Eucharist.  * 

The  departure  of  Judas  was  manifestly  a  great  relief  to 
the  Saviour,  \  and  He  soon  proceeded  to  give  to  His  faith- 
ful disciples  the  supreme  pledge  of  His  love  by  the  insti- 
tution of  the  Holy  Eucharist.  J  The  eating  of  the  flesh 
of  the  lamb  was  now  completed,  after  which  nothing  more 
was  to  be  eaten;  but  here  Our  Lord  anticipated  a  later  rite, 
that  of  breaking  and  eating  bread  after  the  Paschal  supper.  § 
He  "took  bread,  and  blessed  and  brake  and  gave  to  His 
disciples,  and  said.  Take  ye,  and  eat :  this  is  My  body  "; 
and  by  these  all-powerful  words  of  the  Son  of  God  the 
bread  was  actually  changed  into  the  body  of  the  Lord:  into 
that  very  body  which  was  soon  to  be  crucified  for  man's 
salvation.  Then  "  taking  the  chalice,"  the  third  cup^  or 
"  Cup  of  Blessing^'  as  it  is  called  by  St.  Paul,  ||  "He  gave 
thanks  and  gave  to  them,  saying  :  Drink  ye  all  of  this;  for 
THIS  IS  My  blood  of  the  New  Testament,  which  shall  be 
shed  for  you."  By  virtue  of  the  same  divine  power,  these 
words  of  Jesus  changed  the  wine  of  the  chalice  into  His 
most  precious  blood  soon  to  be  shed  on  Calvary  for  our 
redemption.  Nor  was  this  mysterious  transformation  of 
bread  into  the  Lord's  body,  of  wine  into  His  blood,  to  take 
place  only  once,  for  He  entrusted  the  power  to  effect  it  to 
His  apostles  and  to  their  successors  in  the  priestly  office  : 
"  Do  this  for  a  commemoration  of  Me." 

3.  After  the  Last  Supper.  Our  Lord's  last  supper 
was  practically  over  ;  yet  He  remained  at  table  a  little 

•  This  is  the  view  admitted  by  such  recent  Catholic  scholars  as  Dbhaut,  Filuoh, 
Lb  Camus,  Cornely,  Trochon,  Frbtth,  Bruneau,  etc. 

t  John  xiii.  31,32.    X  Cfr.  Matt.  xzvi.  26-29;  Mark  ziv.  22-35  ;  Lukb  xxii.  19,  20. 
S  Cfr.  Edbrsheim,  voU  iL,  p.  511.  \x  Cor.  x.  16. 


THE  LAST  PASCH  CELEBRATED  BY  OUR  LORD.    I97 

longer  time,  during  which  He  imparted  to  His  disciples  His 
first  consolatory  words,  *  then  predicted  to  Peter  his  three- 
fold denial,  f  and  addressed  again  words  of  comfort  to  His 
apostles.|  Then  rising  from  the  supper  table,  He  said  the 
Hymn — probably  the  second  part  of  the  Hallel§ — and 
delivered  the  beautiful  discourse  recorded  in  chapters  xv. 
and  xvi.  of  the  fourth  Gospel.  This  long  discourse  Jesus 
closed  with  a  prayer  which  He  addressed  to  His  Father,  and 
in  which  He  spoke  as  the  great  High  Priest  of  the  New 
Law.  II 

After  these  words  Jesus  went  forth  from  the  supper  room 
with  His  disciples.  ^ 

*  John  xiii.  33-35-  t  John  xiii.  36-38  ;  Luke  xxii.  31-38. 

t  John  xiv,  $  Cfr.  Matt.  xrvi.  30 ;  Mark  xiv.  a6. 

I  John  xviL  V  John  xviii.  i. 


SYNOPSIS   OF   CHAPTER  XVIII 
The  Arrest  and  Trial  of  Jesus. 


I. 

The  Arrest: 


\l: 


Time  and  Place. 
Actors  and  Incidents. 


11. 

The  Trial 

before  the 

Religious 

Authorities: 


I.  The   Preliminary   Examination  (Annas    and 
Caiphas). 


The  First  Session  of  the  San 
hedrim  :  Condemnation  to 
Death: 


^i 


Its  legality. 

Its      only 

ground. 


The  Second  Session  of  the  Sanhedrim  :  The 
Sentence  of  Death  Formally  Ratified. 


(., 


III. 

The  Trial 

before  the 

Civil 

Authorities: 


esus  before 
Pilate: 


iSite  of  the  praetorium. 
An  artifice  of  the  Jews  eluded 
by  Pilate. 
Accusations  against  Jesus  de- 
clared groundless. 

2,  Jesus  before  Herod:  How  Received,  Treated, 
and  Sent  Back  to  Pilate  ? 


The  weak  policy  of  Pilate  a 
failure. 

The  people  choose  Barabbas; 
demand  Our  Lord's  cruci- 
fixion. 

Jesus  isscourged  and  presented 
to  the  people. 


3.  Jesus  before^ 
Pilate  again: 


The  Jews 
declare 
that 


Jesus  "  ought  to 
die,  having  made 
Himself  the  Son 
of  God." 

To  release  Him  is 
to  be  the  enemy 
of  Caesar. 


The  Final  Sentence: 
Z98 


Ibis  ad  Crucem.' 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  ARREST   AND   TRIAL   OF  JESUS. 

§  I.   The  Arrest* 

I.  Time  and  Place.     It  was  probably  between  ten  and 

eleven  at  night  when  Jesus,  leaving  the  Coenaculum,  went 
with  His  disciples  towards  Gethsematli,  an  olive  orchard 
east  of  Jerusalem.  On  His  way  thither  His  main  concern 
was  to  prepare  His  apostles  for  what  was  now  at  hand.  He 
predicted  to  all  their  common  desertion,  and  to  Peter,  the 
loudest  in  his  protestations  of  fidelity,  He  foretold  again  his 
threefold  denial. 

Meanwhile  they  crossed  the  deep  ravine  of  the  Cedron, 
and  soon  reached  the  garden  of  Gethsemani,  not  far  distant 
from,  if  not  identical  with,  the  present  enclosed  space 
pointed  out  by  tradition  as  the  scene  of  Our  Lord's  agony. 
This  garden  was  well  known  to  Judas,  for  it  was  a  place  to 
which  Jesus  often  resorted  to  pray.  On  this  night  His 
prayer  lasted  long,  and  meantime  His  soul  was  sorrowful 
unto  death.  His  body  covered  with  a  sweat  of  blood,  and 
His  heart  wounded  by  the  insensibility  of  His  three  chosen 
disciples,  Peter,  James  and  John.  But  at  length  Jesus, 
comforted  by  a  heavenly  messenger,  lovingly  accepted  the 
chalice  of  His  passion,  and  bade  His  apostles  be  ready  to 
face  those  who,  at  that  very  moment,  were  approaching  the 
garden  to  arrest  Him.  As  Our  Lord's  walk  from  the 
Coenaculum  to  Gethsemani,  together  with  His  prayer  and 

*  Matt.  xxvi.  3«-57  J  Mark  adv.  26-zv.  i;  Luke  xxii.  J9-54;  John  xviii.  i-i^. 

199 


200  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

agony  in  the  garden,  took  probably  more  than  one  hour,* 
His  arrest  is  most  likely  to  be  placed  about  midnight. 

2.  Actors  and  Incidents.  The  chief  actor  in  the  ar- 
rest was  one  of  the  twelve,  the  traitor  Judas.  This  night, 
during  which  all  were  busily  engaged  at  the  Paschal  meal, 
had  appeared  to  him  the  most  favorable  time  to  betray  his 
Master,  and  hence  it  was  probably  understood  between  him 
and  Our  Lord's  enemies  f  that  he  should  leave  the  Paschal 
table  immediately  after  he  had  eaten  the  Pasch,  and  lead 
without  delay  those  in  charge  of  the  arrest,  to  the  exact 
place  where  Jesus  was  reclining  with  His  disciples.  It  is  in 
this  way  that  Judas  became  "  the  leader  of  them  that  appre- 
hended Jesus,"  t  that  is,  of  "a  multitude"  made  up  (i)  of 
soldiers  and  servants  from  the  chief  priests  and  ancients  of 
the  people  ;  (2)  of  a  part  of  the  Roman  cohort  under  one 
of  its  captains,  in  case  a  disturbance  should  arise  ;  (3)  of 
chief  priests  and  ancients  to  direct  the  proceedings.  Thus 
accompanied,  the  betrayer  went  first  to  the  upper  room,  but 
finding  it  empty,  he  went  next  to  the  garden  of  Gethsemani, 
where  he  suspected  his  Master  might  still  be  in  prayer. 

Judas  had  calculated  aright,  and  upon  his  arrival  at  the 
other  side  of  the  Cedron  he  soon  found  Jesus,  who,  with 
the  eleven  apostles,  had  come  forth  from  the  garden  to 
meet  His  betrayer.  According  to  an  arrangement,  calcu- 
lated, it  was  thought,  not  to  cause  any  suspicion  among  Our 
Lord's  followers,  Judas  left  those  who  accompanied  him  a 
little  behind,  and  "  coming  forward  "  saluted  Jesus  with  the 
usual  salutation,  to  which  he  added  the  kiss  of  peace. 
Scarcely  had  Our  Saviour  received  this  sign  of  friendship, 
now  transformed  by  Judas  into  an  act  of  treachery,  when 
He  went  towards  the  multitude  and  asked  them,  "  Whom 
seek  ye  ?  "  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth  "  they  replied,  to  which 
Our  Lord  answered,  "  I  am  He."  At  these  simple  words  of 
Jesus  they  went  backward  and  fell  to  the  ground,  the  Son 

♦  Matt.  xxvi.  40  s  Mark  xiv.  37.  t  Cfr.  John  xiii.  37.  X  Acts  L  16. 


THE    ARREST    AND    TRIAL    OF   JESUS.  20I 

of  God  proving  thereby  that  had  He  so  willed,  no  power  on 
earth  would  have  been  able  to  arrest  Him. 

But  as  Our  Lord's  second  question  and  reply  to  the  mul- 
titude, together  with  His  request  that  they  should  allow  His 
followers  to  escape  unmolested,  implied  His  willing  surren- 
der of  Himself,  they  proceeded  to  seize  Him.  At  this  mo- 
ment, Peter,  drawing  his  sword,  intervened  and  cut  off  the 
ear  of  Malchus,  the  servant  of  the  high  priest.  But  Our 
Lord  rebuked  him,  healed  the  ear  of  Malchus,  and  affirmed 
explicitly  His  resolve  not  to  defend  Himself,  protesting, 
however,  against  the  unworthy  conduct  of  the  Jewish  lead- 
ers He  then  noticed  among  the  crowd.  Jesus  was  then 
seized  and  bound,  while  in  the  midst  of  the  confusion  His 
disciples  took  to  flight.* 

§  2.  The  Trial  of  Jesus  before  the  Religious  Authorities,  f 

I.  The  Preliminary  Examination.  From  Gethsem- 
ani,  Jesus  was  led  first  to  Annas,  one  of  the  most  influential 
men  of  the  time,  %  and  whose  house  was  probably  nearer  the 
place  of  the  arrest  than  that  of  Caiphas,  his  son-in-law  and 
the  actual  occupant  of  the  high  priesthood.  Furthermore, 
Annas,  having  been  the  official  high  priest  during  about  eight 
years,  had  been  deposed  by  the  representative  of  a  for- 
eign and  heathen  power,  the  Roman  procurator,  Valerius 
Gratus,  so  that  in  the  eyes  of  the  Jews  he  was  still  their 
lawful  high  priest,  bearing  the  title  and  wielding  the  influ- 
ence of  his  former  office.  It  was  only  natural,  therefore, 
that  immediately  on  His  arrest,  Jesus  should  be  brought  to 
him,  the  more  so  because  he  would  greatly  rejoice  at  the 
success  of  the  plot  against  Our  Lord.  However  this  may 
be,  we  have  no  record  in  the  Gospel  of  a  trial  to  which  An- 

*  As  to  the  incident  recorded  in  St.  Mark  (xiv.  51,  52)  regarding  the  young  man  who 
followed  Jesus,  "  having  a  linen  cloth  cast  about  his  naked  body,"  see  Edersheim, 
vol.  ii,  pp.  544,  545. 

t  Matt,  xxvi.  57;  xxvii.  i;  Mark  xiv.  53;  xv.  i;  Luke  xxii.  54-71;  John  xviil  \i-xf. 

X  JosBPHus,  Antiq.  of  the  Jews,  book  XX.,  chap,  ix.,  i. 


a02  OUTLINES  OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

nas  would  have  subjected  Jesus,  and  we  are  simply  told  that 
he  "  sent  Him  bound,  to  Caiphas  the  high  priest." 

Soon  the  house  of  this  official  high  priest  of  the  Jews  was 
reached,  but  as  some  interval  would  necessarily  elapse  be- 
fore the  members  of  the  Sanhedrim  could  be  assembled, 
Caiphas  asked  Jesus  some  questions  about  His  disciples  and 
His  doctrine.  This  was  but  a  preliminary  examination, 
since  "  there  was  no  formal  accusation,  no  witnesses,  no 
sentence  pronounced."  (Andrews.)  In  His  answer  Our 
Lord  reminded  the  high  priest  that  as  an  accused  person, 
He  should  not  be  expected  to  criminate  Himself.  At  these 
words  of  Jesus,  an  officer  of  Caiphas,  knowing  that  he  would 
thereby  please  his  master,  smote  the  face  of  the  Son  of  God 
for  what  he  called  an  irreverent  answer  to  the  high  priest ; 
but  Our  Lord  patiently  bore  this  outrage,  mercifully  expos- 
tulating however  with  that  man  to  open  his  eyes  to  the  in- 
justice and  baseness  of  his  action. 

Meanwhile,  Peter  and  John,  having  recovered  from  their 
panic,  had  followed  their  Master  to  the  house  of  the  high 
priest  and  had  been  introduced  by  the  portress,  and  it  is 
probably  during  Our  Lord's  preliminary  examination  by 
Caiphas,  that  the  first  two  denials  of  Peter  occurred.* 

2.  The  First  Session  of  the  Sanhedrim.  At  length 
— between  two  and  three  in  the  morning — the  Sanhedrists 
met  in  a  large  room  of  the  high  priest's  palace,  and  the 
result  of  their  first  sitting  was  a  sentence  of  death  against 
Our  Lord,  the  illegality  of  which  can  easily  be  perceived. 
It  is  clear,  for  instance,  that  the  most  elementary  forms  of 
justice  were  not  observed  in  the  case  of  Jesus;  before  His 
trial  His  death  had  been  agreed  upon  by  His  judges;  f  at  the 
trial,  no  one  appeared  for  Him  as  advocate,  no  witnesses 
were  called  to  testify  in  His  favor,  and  when  the  witnesses 
against  Him  could  not  agree  in  their  testimony.  He  Himself 
was  put  under  oath  and  compelled  by  the  high  priest  to 

•  FoUAUD,  ii.,  p.  »8o  sq.;  Andrews,  p.  517  sq.  t  John  xi.  47-53. 


THE    ARREST    AND    TRIAL    OF    JESUS.  203 

criminate  Himself;  again,  the  trial  took  place  before  sunrise, 
in  opposition  to  Jewish  law,  and  the  ill-treatment  both  be- 
fore and  after  the  trial  proves  that  Our  Lord's  judges  were 
in  reality  His  cruel  and  implacable  enemies.  A  further 
proof  of  the  illegality  of  this  sentence  is  found  in  the  fact 
that  it  was  pronounced  although  the  charges  brought  against 
Jesus  could  not  be  proved  by  witnesses.* 

The  time  came  during  this  iniquitous  trial  when  the  wit- 
nesses were  so  manifestly  untrustworthy  that  Our  Lord  de- 
clined to  answer  their  various  charges,  and  then  it  was  that 
His  declared  enemy,  the  high  priest  Caiphas,  resorted  to  a 
manoeuvre  apparently  reserved  for  the  emergency.  He  arose, 
put  Jesus  under  oath,  thereby  obliging  Him  to  speak,  and 
bade  Him  declare  whether  He  was  "the  Christ,  the  Son  of 
the  blessed  God."  Our  Lord  answered  affirmatively,  and 
then  added  a  few  words  which  implied  a  claim  on  His  part 
to  equality  in  power  and  dignity  with  Jehovah  Himself.  In 
the  eyes  of  the  high  priest  and  of  the  Sanhedrists  present 
the  declaration  of  Jesus  amounted  to  an  open  blasphemy, 
and  this  is  why,  dispensing  with  further  witnesses,  they  at 
once  pronounced  the  sentence,  "  He  is  guilty  of  death  !  " 
Then  the  Sanhedrim  suspended  its  session  to  meet  again  at 
daybreak,  t 

It  was  during  this  first  session  of  the  Sanhedrim,  or  at  its 
close,  that  the  third  denial  of  Peter  occurred,  upon  whom 
Jesus  then  cast  a  look  of  mercy  and  who,  "  going  forth,  wept 
bitterly."  We  must  also  mention  here  the  awful  scene  of 
ill  treatment  to  which  our  divine  Saviour  was  subjected  be- 
tween the  two  meetings  of  the  Sanhedrim,  and  the  general 
features  of  which  are  recorded  in  the  Synoptists.  I 

3.  The  Second  Session  of  the  Sanhedrim.  In  hold- 
ing a  second  meeting  at  the  earliest  possible  moment  after 

*  Cfr.  Matt.  xrvi.  59  sq.;  Mark  xiv.  55-59. 

t  Cfr.  FouARD,  ii.,  pp,  278,  279. 

X  Matt,  zxvi.  67,  68 ;  Mark  xiv.  65 ;  Luke  zziL  6f^6§. 


204  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

sunrise  *  the  Sanhedrists  wished  to  comply  with  one  of  the 
strict  rules  of  the  court  forbidding  capital  trials  at  night. 
This  second  session  was  held,  like  the  first,  in  the  house  of 
Caiphas  f  and  lasted  but  a  short  time,  for  it  was  simply  de- 
voted to  secure  from  the  lips  of  Jesus  a  most  explicit  state- 
ment of  His  claim  to  the  divine  nature  and  authority.  Our 
Lord's  judges  began  with  a  question  about  His  Messiah- 
ship,  to  which  He  apparently  refused  to  answer.  But  as  He 
soon  repeated  the  very  words  which  in  their  first  meeting 
the  Sanhedrists  had  considered  as  implying  a  claim  to  equal- 
ity in  power  and  dignity  with  Jehovah,  they  asked  Him  with 
one  accord,  "  Art  Thou  then  the  Son  of  God  ?  " 

Plainly  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case  gave  to  this  ques- 
tion of  Our  Lord's  judges  but  one  meaning.  They  wanted 
Him  to  commit  Himself  to  a  formal  declaration  that  He 
was  no  less  truly  God  than  Jehovah  Himself,  whom  He 
claimed  as  His  Father.  This  was  their  meaning  and  Jesus 
fully  realized  it ;  and  this  is  why  He  answered  by  the  rab- 
binical formula,  "  You  say,  that  I  am,"  whereby  He  endorsed 
as  His  own  affirmation  the  full  intent  of  the  question  put  to 
Him.  By  this  formal  declaration  of  Our  Lord  the  San- 
hedrists had  fully  reached  their  object.  They  themselves 
*'  had  heard  it  from  His  own  mouth  "  that  He  claimed  to  be 
equal  to  God,  and  therefore  the  sentence  of  death  already 
pronounced  against  Him  was  at  once  ratified  by  the  highest 
tribunal  of  the  Jews. 

Judas  soon  learned  this  issue  of  His  Master's  trial,  and 
having  returned  the  money  to  the  chief  priests  and  ancients, 
he  went  and  hanged  himself,  despairing  that  his  deliberate 
perfidy  could  be  forgiven  him.  J 

*  The  sun  rises  at  Jerusalem  in  the  month  of  April  about  5  o'clodc. 
t  Cfr.  John  xviii  28. 
%  Matt,  xxvii.  3  sq. 


THE    ARREST    AND    TRIAL    OF    JESUS.  205 

§  3.   The  Trial  of  Jesus  before  the  Civil  Authorities. 

I.  Jesus  before  Pilate.*  There  now  remained  for  the 
Jewish  rulers  to  obtain  from  Pilate  the  ratification  of  their 
sentence  of  death  against  Jesus,  for  without  the  approval 
of  the  Roman  procurator  they  had  no  power  to  carry  out  a 
capital  sentence.  But  this  approval  they  hoped  easily  to 
wrest  from  the  weakness  of  Pilate,  and  in  consequence  they 
hurriedly  led  Our  Lord  to  the  fortress  Antonia  where,  as  is 
very  probable,  this  Roman  official  now  resided. 

Arriving  at  the  praetorium— for  so  were  called  the 
headquarters  of  the  procurator  wherever  he  happened  to 
be — the  Sanhedrists  refused  to  enter  this  heathen  house, 
lest  they  should  incur  a  legal  defilement  which  would  have 
prevented  them  from  eating  the  Chagigah,t  as  they  were 
expected  to  do  on  that  very  day,  Nisan  15th.  Pilate  there- 
fore came  out  to  give  them  audience,  and  he  at  once 
demanded  they  should  proffer  grounds  of  accusation  against 
their  prisoner.  The  Jewish  officials  remonstrated  in  ordei 
that  their  sentence  should  be  confirmed  without  inquiry 
into  the  matter,  but  Pilate  stood  firm  and  compelled  them 
to  bring  forth  definite  charges  of  which  he  would  feel 
bound  to  take  cognizance.  "They  therefore  began  to 
accuse  Jesus,  saying  :  We  have  found  this  man  perverting 
our  nation,  and  forbidding  to  give  tribute  to  Caesar,  and 
saying  that  He  is  Christ  the  King."  These  charges  directly 
affected  the  Roman  power,  and  hence  Pilate,  entering  the 
praetorium,  began  to  inquire  into  them.  As,  however,  they 
could  be  summed  up  in  the  charge  of  setting  up  a  kingdom 
in  opposition  to  that  of  Caesar,  Pilate  questioned  Jesus 
about  His  title  of  King  of  the  Jews.  To  this  fair  inquiry 
of  His  judge.  Our  Lord  answered  that  He  was  indeed  a 
King,  but  that  His  kingdom,  being  not  of  this  world,  could 

*  Matt.  xxvU.  x,  2  ;  11-14  ;  Mark  xv.  1-5  ;  Luke  xxiii.  1-6 ;  John  xviii.  28-38. 
t  See  the  able  discussion  of  this  point  in  Edersheim,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  566-568. 


2o6  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

not  clash  with  the  Roman  power.  This  reply  of  Our  Loi'd 
fully  satisfied  the  susceptibility  of  the  Roman  official,  and 
in  consequence  Pilate,  going  out  with  Jesus,  declared  to 
the  Jews,  "  I  find  no  cause  [that  is,  ground  for  condemna- 
tion] in  Him." 

Our  Lord's  enemies  were  little  prepared  for  such  a  public 
and  unhesitating  acquittal  of  Jesus,  and  this  made  them  all 
the  more  earnest  in  repeating  their  charges  :  "  He  stirreth 
up  the  people,"  said  they,  "  teaching  throughout  all  Judaea, 
beginning  from  Galilee  to  this  place";  and  St.  Mark  adds  : 
"and  the  chief  priests  accused  Him  in  many  things." 
Amid  this  storm  of  accusations  Jesus  remained  silent,  and 
this  perfect  self-command  on  the  part  of  his  prisoner 
astonished  the  procurator.  As  Pilate's  ear  had  caught  the 
name  of  Galilee  among  the  clamors  of  the  multitude  as  the 
province  wherein  Jesus  had  excited  the  people  to  revolt, 
this  suggested  to  the  Roman  official  an  expedient  to  relieve 
himself  from  all  responsibility  in  connection  with  Our 
Lord.  Having  assured  himself  that  the  accused  was  a 
Galilean,  he  sent  Him  to  Herod  Antipas,  now  in  the  Holy 
City,  as  one  to  whose  jurisdiction  Jesus  naturally  belonged. 

2.  Jesus  before  Herod.*  Accompanied  by  the  Roman 
soldiery  and  by  a  delegation  of  the  Sanhedrim,  Jesus  left 
the  praetorium  on  Mount  Moria,  crossed  the  bridge  which 
spans  the  Tyropoeon  valley,  and  soon  reached  the  palace  of 
Herod  on  Mount  Sion.  The  Galilean  ruler  had  long 
wished  to  see  the  prophet  whose  fame  had  reached  his  ears, 
and  it  was  with  a  firm  hope  that  Our  Lord  would  perform 
some  miracle  to  secure  his  patronage,  that  he  saw  Jesus 
standing  before  his  tribunal.  This,  however,  Jesus  refused 
to  do  ;  nay,  more.  He  even  remained  silent  both  to  the 
numerous  questions  of  Herod  and  to  the  vehement  accusa- 
tions of  the  chief  priests  and  the  Scribes.  Herod  was 
irritated,  and  in  scorn    of  Our  Lord's  claims  he  arrayed 

*LuKK  xxiii.  7-12. 


THE    ARREST    AND    TRIAL    OF    JESUS.  207 

Him  in  the  white  garment  of  a  candidate  to  royalty,  and 
sent  Him  back  to  Pilate. 

This  interchange  of  civilities  restored  the  broken  friend- 
ship between  the  Roman  procurator  and  the  Galilean 
tetrarch. 

3.  Jesus  before  Pilate  Again.*  With  Our  Lord's 
return  to  the  praetorium,  Pilate  felt  that  all  the  responsibil- 
ity he  had  wished  to  shift  upon  Herod  had  come  back  to 
him.  He  was  thoroughly  convinced  of  the  innocence  of 
Jesus,  and  accordingly  having  called  together  "the  chief 
priests  and  the  magistrates  and  the  people,"  he  took  his 
place  on  the  judgment-seat,  intending  to  proclaim  Our 
Lord's  innocence  and  to  end  the  trial.  Through  his  weak 
policy,  however,  instead  of  authoritatively  putting  an  end 
to  the  trial,  he  suggested  a  compromise,  calculated,  as  he 
thought,  to  satisfy  all  parties.  It  was  customary  at  the 
Paschal  festival  to  release  any  prisoner  for  whom  the  people 
had  a  special  desire,  and  now  Pilate  proposed  that  since  the 
charges  against  Jesus  had  appeared  groundless  to  Herod 
and  to  him,  he  would  simply  have  Our  Lord  "  chastised  " 
and  then  released. 

Pilate's  policy  was  a  lamentable  failure.  The  priests,  of 
course,  could  not  be  satisfied  with  anything  but  the  capital 
punishment  of  Jesus,  and  the  people,  reminded  of  their 
right  to  the  release  of  any  prisoner  they  asked  for,  rejected 
the  idea  that  the  Roman  procurator  should  limit  their 
choice  to  Jesus.  Pilate  was  thus  led  to  allow  the  multitude 
to  choose  between  Our  Lord  and  Barabbas,  and  to  this  he 
agreed  the  more  readily  because  he  felt  sure  that  Jesus 
would  be  the  object  of  their  preference,  since  a  few  days 
before  they  had  received  Him  with  enthusiasm  into  Jeru- 
salem. 

While  the  people  deliberated  about  the  choice  of  a  pris- 
oner, the  procurator  received  from  his  wife  a  message  to  the 

•  Matt,  ijcvii.  15-31 ;  Mark  xv.  6-ao;  Lukk  xxiii.  13-25  ;  John  xviii.  39;  adx.  K>. 


2o8  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY, 

effect  that  during  the  night  she  had  been  greatly  troubled 
in  a  dream  about  the  just  man  now  standing  before  her 
husband's  tribunal ;  she  therefore  advised  him  not  to  inflict 
upon  Him  the  least  punishment.  This,  of  course,  made 
Pilate  more  anxious  to  end  the  trial ;  but  to  his  great  aston- 
ishment, he  soon  discovered  that,  following  the  perfidious 
suggestions  of  their  leaders  and  their  own  national  feelings 
in  favor  of  one  who,  like  Barabbas,  had  fought  against  the 
Roman  yoke,  the  multitude  had  agreed  upon  asking  for  the 
release  of  Barabbas  and  for  the  crucifixion  of  Jesus.  In  vain 
did  the  Roman  procurator  remonstrate  with  the  people  ;  the 
multitude  persisted  in  choosing  Barabbas  and  clamoring  for 
Our  Lord's  crucifixion.* 

At  last  Pilate  yielded  and  ordered  that  Jesus  should  be 
scourged,  this  being  the  usual  preliminary  to  crucifixion. 
The  soldiers  therefore  stripped  Our  Lord  to  the  waist,  tied 
Him  to  a  low  pillar  that,  bending  over.  He  might  better  re- 
ceive the  blows  of  the  instrument  of  torture,  viz.,  a  leather 
thong  often  loaded  with  lead  or  iron.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  this  scourging  of  Jesus  was  of  the  severest  kind  :  the 
victim  was  of  the  hated  Jewish  race,  and  the  Roman  sol- 
diers could  inflict  any  number  of  lashes. 

After  this  cruel  scourging,  another  awful  scene  took  place 
in  the  inner  court  of  the  praetorium.  There,  before  the 
assembled  cohort,  the  soldiery  arrayed  Jesus  in  purple, 
crowned  Him  with  thorns,  placed  a  reed  in  His  right  hand, 
and  paid  a  derisive  homage  to  Him  as  the  King  of  the  Jews, 
smiting  at  the  same  time  His  sacred  head  with  the  reed,  and 
spitting  upon  His  august  face. 

When  Pilate  beheld  Jesus  in  this  pitiable  condition,  he 
was  moved  with  compassion,  and  presented  Him  to  the 
multitude,  hoping  that  this  sight  would  be  sufficient  to 
touch  the  hearts  of  all.     In  fact,  in  presence  of  such  meek- 

*  The  principal  reasons  which  may  be  given  to  account  for  this  great  and  rapid  change 
in  public  feeling  in  regard  to  Our  Lord  are  well  stated  by  Andrews,  pp.  537,  538. 


THE    ARREST    AND    TRIAL    OF    JESUS.  209 

ness  and  suffering  the  people  were  touched,  and  only  "  the 
chief  priests  and  their  servants  "  cried  again  for  Our  Lord's 
crucifixion.  Pilate  was  angry  at  this  implacable  hatred  of 
the  Jewish  rulers,  and  realizing  that  he  had  gained  ground 
over  the  people's  mind,  resolved  not  to  put  Jesus  to  death. 
"  Take  Him  you,"  said  he,  "  and  crucify  Him  :  for  I  find 
no  cause  in  Him." 

It  is  at  this  juncture,  that  to  regain  their  hold  upon  the 
multitude,  the  Jewish  rulers  charged  Our  Lord  publicly  with 
the  crime  of  blasphemy,  which  must  needs  be  punished  with 
death.  "  We  have  a  Law,"  they  exclaimed,  "  and  according 
to  the  Law  He  ought  to  die,  because  He  made  Himself  the 
Son  of  God."  Hearing  this,  Pilate  greatly  feared,  submitted 
Our  Lord  to  a  new  interrogation,  and  even  took  an  open 
step  towards  His  release.  But  the  Roman  procurator  was 
no  match  for  the  crafty  Sanhedrists.  They  now  threaten 
him  with  the  vengeance  of  Tiberius  for  releasing  a  man 
accused  of  treason  against  the  emperor.  Pilate,  doubtless, 
remembered  how  in  one  of  his  former  conflicts  with  the 
Jews,  that  emperor  had  pronounced  against  him,  and  he 
knew  well  that  to  the  suspicious  mind  of  Tiberius  the  simple 
accusation  of  indifference  to  his  imperial  interests  would  be 
equivalent  to  conviction.  Trembling  for  his  very  life,  Pilate 
now  prepared  to  give  the  final  sentence,  not  without,  how- 
ever, protesting  his  own  innocence  by  washing  his  hands 
before  all  ;  then  he  ordered  that  Jesus  be  taken  away  and 
crucified.  As  Our  Lord  came  forth,  Pilate  presented  Him 
to  the  Jews  as  their  King,  and  as  such,  the  representatives 
of  the  Jewish  people  rejected  their  Saviour,  declaring  that 
they  had  no  king  but  Caesar. 

The  form  of  the  final  sentence  is  not  given  in  the  Gospel 
narratives  ;  the  usual  form  was  "  Ibis  ad  crucem." 


SYNOPSIS  OF   CHAPTER  XIX. 
The  Crucifixion. 


I. 

On  the 

Way  to 

Calvary; 


I.  The  Via  Dolorosa. 


^,    .  ^    o  (  Shape  of  the  cross;  the  title. 

2.  Christ    Beanng^g.^H^^^^y^^^^ 


His  Cross: 


Women  of  Jerusalem. 


II. 

Calvary: 


r  General  remarks  on  the  pun- 
_,     _  .         I      isbment  of  the  crucifixion. 

I.  The  Execution:  <  ^j^^  crucifixion  of  Our  Lord 
(^     described. 


2.  On  the  Cross: 


3.  The  Burial: 


C  Witnesses  of  the  crucifixion. 
J  The  seven  words  of  Jesus, 
j  Death  and  accompanying  cir- 
[     cumstances. 

The  taking  down  from  the 
cross,  and  embalming. 

Further  preparations  for  em- 
balming the  body  of  Jesus. 

The  sepulchre  sealed  and 
guarded. 


2IO 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE    CRUCIFIXION.* 

§  I.   On  the   Way  to  Calvary. 

I.  The  Via  Dolorosa.  The  road  followed  by  Jesus 
to  reach  the  place  of  the  crucifixion  is  commonly  called  the 
Via  Dolorosa.  According  to  tradition  its  starting  point 
was  the  fortress  Antonia,  where  Pilate  resided,  and  its 
terminus  the  place  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 
As,  however,  that  church  is  within  the  city  walls,  while  the 
Evangelists  speak  of  the  place  where  Our  Lord  was  cruci- 
fied as  outside  the  city  and  "  nigh  unto  it,"  many  reject  the 
traditional  site  of  Calvary,  and  consider  the  hill  lying  with- 
out the  present  wall,  a  little  to  the  northeast  of  the  Damas- 
cus gate,  as  the  place  of  Our  Lord's  crucifixion.  But  as  it 
is  agreed  on  all  hands  that  the  present  city  wall  does  not 
correspond  exactly  with  the  wall  of  Jerusalem  in  Our  Lord's 
time,  it  is  possible  that  the  old  city  wall  did  not  actually  in- 
clude the  site  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  in 
point  of  fact,  no  conclusive  argument,  archaeological  or 
otherwise, t  has  yet  been  brought  forward  against  the  tradi- 
tional place  of  Calvary.  Admitting,  therefore,  that  the  gen- 
eral course  of  the  road  followed  by  Jesus  is  correctly  indi- 
cated by  tradition,  the  Via  Dolorosa  was  about  one-third 
of  a  mile  in  length. 

2.  Christ  Bearing  His  Cross.    After  the  final  sen- 
tence had  been  pronounced,  Our  Lord  was  clothed  again  in 

*  Matt,  xxvii.  31-66 ;  Mark  xv.  20-47  ;  Luke  xxiii.  26-56 ;  John  xix.  16-42. 
t  Cir.  FouARD,  vol.  ii.,  p.  316,  footnote  i ;  Andrews,  pp.  577-588 ;  and  also  the  article 
CalTkire,  in  Vigouroux,  Dictionnaire  de  la  Bible. 

til 


212  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

His  own  garments,  and  He  soon  started  for  the  place  of 
execution,  called  Golgotha,  from  its  skull-like  appearance. 
He  was  led  by  a  Roman  centurion — to  whom  tradition 
gives  the  name  of  Longinus — and  was  surrounded  by  four 
soldiers,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  two  malefactors  who 
accompanied  Him,  and  whose  execution  had  been  decided 
on,  on  this  great  festival,  to  inspire  with  awe  the  Jewish 
multitudes.  After  the  Roman  custom,  Jesus  had  to  bear  His 
own  instrument  of  torture,  a  cross,  most  likely  the  crux  im- 
missa,  or  Latin  cross  i*,  as  represented  in  early  paintings. 
Whether  the  title,  or  white  wooden  tablet  bearing  the  su- 
perscription which  stated  Our  Lord's  offence,  was  borne 
before  Him,  hung  upon  His  neck,  or  already  fixed  to  the 
cross,  cannot  be  defined. 

Our  Lord's  cross  was  indeed  of  sufficient  size  and  weight 
to  support  the  body  of  a  man,  but  it  was  not  the  lofty  and 
massive  object  which  we  often  picture  to  ourselves.  Yet  it 
soon  proved  too  heavy  a  burden  for  the  physical  strength  of 
Jesus,  exhausted  by  His  long  agony  in  the  garden,  by  the 
barbarous  treatment  He  had  endured  between  the  two 
meetings  of  the  Sanhedrim,  and  chiefly  by  the  scourging 
and  crowning  of  thorns  of  the  early  morning.  Patiently 
and  slowly  He  moved  up  to  the  western  city  gate,  accom- 
panied by  a  very  large  multitude;  but  there,  as  He  sank 
under  His  burden,  the  soldiers  caught  sight  of  a  certain 
Simon,  a  Cyrenian,  who  was  just  coming  from  the  country, 
and  whom  they  recognized  as  a  stranger  by  his  dress,  and 
they  at  once  compelled  him  to  bear  the  cross  after  Our 
Lord.  At  this  moment,  also,  the  women  who  had  followed 
with  the  populace  coming  closer  to  Him,  raised  their  lamen- 
tations, but  Jesus  bade  them  not  to  weep  over  Him,  but 
over  themselves  and  over  their  children. 


THE   CRUCIFIXION.  213 

§  2.   Calvary, 
I.  The    Execution.      Finally    Calvary  was    reached, 

where  the  Son  of  God  was  to  undergo  the  most  ignominious 
and  most  painful  of  punishments.     Crucifixion  was  ever  re- 
garded by  the  nations  among  which  it  was  in  use,  as  a  most 
shameful  punishment,  and  among  the  Romans  in  particular, 
it  was  generally  reserved  for  slaves  and  foreigners.     In  the 
eyes  of  the  Jews,  one  dying  on  the  cross  was  accursed  by 
God,*  and  this  is  why  Our   Lord's  enemies  had  been  so 
anxious  to  secure  for  Him  this  punishment  as  a  signal  pro- 
test against  His  pretensions  to  the  Messianic  dignity.     To 
this  peculiar  shame  of  the  crucifixion  were  added  sufferings 
of  the  most  intense  character,  and  which  terminated  always 
after  many  hours,  often  after  several  days  of  cruel  agony,  f 
It  was,  in  fact,  to  render  these  dreadful  sufferings  less  un- 
endurable that,  according  to  existing  custom,  a  draught  of 
wine  mingled  with   myrrh  was  offered  to  Our  Lord  before 
He  was  nailed  to  the  cross;  but  Jesus  refused  to  drink  this 
stupefying  potion,  because  He  wished  to  experience  fully  the 
torments  of  His  crucifixion.    The  crucifixion  itself,  being  a 
mode  of  execution  familiar  to  their  contemporaries,  is  left 
undescribed  by  the  Evangelists,  but  from  various  authors 
who  speak  of  the  execution  of  criminals  by  the  cross,  we 
may  infer  that  Our  Lord's   crucifixion  was  carried  out  as 
follows:     While  the  cross  was  being  placed  in  the  ground. 
Our  Redeemer  was  stripped  of  His  garments,  and  with  only 
a  linen  cloth  about  His  loins,  was  lifted  up  by  means  of 
ropes  to  the  sediU,  or  little  projection   midway  upon  the 
upright  post  of  the  cross.      Having  sat  upon  the   sedile, 
Jesus  stretched  out  His  arms  to  be  tied  with  cords  to  the 
transom,  and  then  His  hands  and  feet  J  were  nailed  to  the 

*  Cfr.  Deuter.  xxi.  23.  t  Cfr.  Smith,  Bible  Dictionary  art.  Cruci&don. 

X  That  both  Our  Lord's  hands  and  feet  were  nailed  to  the  cross  is  plainly  inferred 
from  St  Luke  xxiv.  39,  40,  and  from  a  unanimous  iradition  applying  to  Je«u«  the  words 
of  Psalm  xxi   17.     Cir.  Fouaed,  vol.  ii.,  p.  325,  footnote  6. 


214  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

cross,  four  nails  being  most  probably  used  for  the  purpose. 
Of  course  a  similar  treatment  was  inflicted  on  the  two  male- 
factors who  were  crucified,  the  one  on  the  right,  and  the 
other  on  the  left  of  Jesus. 

To  complete  Our  Lord's  crucifixion,  there  remained  only 
one  thing  to  be  done,  namely:  to  set  up  above  His  head 
the  title  written  by  Pilate  in  Latin,  Greek  and  Aramaic,  to 
indicate  the  nature  of  the  offence  for  which  Our  Saviour 
was  thus  punished.  The  wording  of  this  title^  which  ap- 
parently declared  Jesus  the  true  King  of  the  Jews,  was 
naturally  objected  to  by  the  Jewish  leaders,  but  to  their 
remonstrances  Pilate  had  simply  replied  by  the  legal  for- 
mula: "  What  I  have  written  I  have  written." 

2.  On  the  Cross.  While  the  four  soldiers  in  charge 
of  Our  Lord's  execution  divided  among  themselves  His 
garments,  the  great  body  of  the  people  seems  to  have  re- 
mained silently  gazing  upon  Him,  and  only  those  who  had 
borne  false  testimony  against  Him  now  mocked  at  Jesus, 
shaking  their  heads  and  repeating  their  calumnious  accusa- 
tions. Soon,  however,  the  Sanhedrists  chimed  in,  congratu- 
lating themselves  with  loud  and  scornful  insolence  upon 
their  success;  and  they  actually  communicated  their  feel- 
ings of  hatred  and  scorn  not  only  to  the  ignorant  Roman 
soldiers,  but  also  to  the  people  at  large  and  to  the  very 
malefactors  agonizing  by  the  side  of  Jesus.*  Apparently 
but  a  small  group  of  those  who  witnessed  Our  Lord's 
agony  on  the  cross,  among  whom  of  course  were  His 
mother  and  His  beloved  disciple,  continued  to  sympathize 
with  Him  and  to  give  Him  external  proofs  of  their  intense 
grief. 

Meanwhile  Jesus  had  but  feelings  of  compassion  and 
love  for  those  around  Him,  as  is  proved  by  three  of  the 
seven  words  placed  on  His  dying  lips  by  the  inspired  nar- 

♦  As  to  the  question  whether  both  malefactors  or  only  one  of  them  reviled  Our  Lord, 
cfr,  FouARD,  vol.  ii..  p.  332,  footnote  3  ;  Andrews,  p.  556. 


THE   CRTTCIFIXION.  215 

rators.  The  first  was  a  prayer  for  forgiveness  in  behalf  of 
His  very  enemies;  the  second  held  out  a  magnificent  re- 
ward to  the  repentant  malefactor,  while  by  the  third  He 
tenderly  entrusted  Mary  and  John  to  their  mutual  loving 
care.  It  is  probable  that  during  the  miraculous  darkness 
which  set  in  at  noon  *  Jesus  suffered  in  silence,  and  that 
He  uttered  the  other  four  words  only  when  it  had  ceased. 
The  fourth  word  evidenced  the  incomprehensible  anguish 
of  His  soul,  and  the  fifth  the  intolerable  thirst  which  con- 
sumed Him.  By  the  sixth  word  He  solemnly  declared  His 
redeeming  work  consummated,  and  in  consequence,  with 
the  seventh,  a  final  recommendation  of  His  soul  to  His 
Father,  "  He  gave  up  the  ghost." 

At  this  same  moment,  prodigies  attested  the  dignity  of 
the  Person  who  had  just  breathed  His  last.  The  veil  of  the 
Temple — the  one  which  separated  the  Holy  from  the  Most 
Holy  Place — was  rent  from  top  to  bottom ;  the  earth 
quaked  ;  the  rocks  were  torn  asunder  ;  the  graves  were 
opened,  and  "  many  bodies  of  the  saints  that  had  slept 
arose."  No  wonder,  then,  that  in  presence  of  the  signs 
he  witnessed,  the  Roman  centurion  exclaimed,  "  Indeed 
this  man  was  the  Son  of  God,"  and  that  the  Jewish  multi- 
tude "returned  striking  their  breasts." 

3.  The  Burial.  While  Jesus,  the  Lamb  of  God  and 
the  High  Priest  of  the  New  Law,  was  consummating  His 
sacrifice  on  Mount  Calvary,  the  Jewish  priests  had  been 
offering  their  usual  sacrificial  lamb  on  Mount  Moria.  As 
soon  as  their  sacrifice  was  over,  they  hurried  to  Pilate, 
requesting  him  to  hasten  the  death  of  the  crucified  that 
their  corpses  might  be  taken  down  before  the  beginning  of 
the  Sabbath,  that  is,  before  sunset.     Pilate  agreed  at  once 

*  The  discrepancy  between  St.  Mark  xv.  25  (cfr.  also  Mark  xv.  33;  Matt,  xxvii.  45; 
Luke  xxiii.  44),  who  places  Our  Lord's  crucifixion  at  the  third  hour,  and  St.  John  xix. 
14,  who  speaks  of  the  sixth  hour  when  Pilate  sat  down  to  pronounce  the  final  sentence, 
is  closely  examined  by  Andrews,  pp.  545-547.  See  also  Fillion,  St.  Jean,  p.  348} 
Ramsay,  in  the  Expositor,  March  1893;  June  1896;  etc. 


2l6  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

to  their  request,  for  he  was  well  aware  that  the  Roman 
custom  of  leaving  the  bodies  of  crucified  criminals  without 
burial  had  been  expressly  modified  in  favor  of  the  Jews, 
whose  Law  commanded  that  all  such  should  be  buried 
before  night.  According  to  his  directions,  the  soldiers 
broke  the  legs  of  the  malefactors  who  had  been  crucified 
with  Our  Lord,  in  order  to  hasten  their  death,  but  when  on 
the  point  of  doing  the  same  to  Jesus  they  found  Him 
already  dead,  they  did  not  break  any  of  His  bones  ;  one  of 
them  simply  pierced  Our  Lord's  side  with  his  spear.  Thus 
was  the  actual  death  of  Our  Saviour  put  beyond  all  doubt, 
for  the  inflicting  of  the  wound  was  immediately  followed 
by  a  flow  of  blood  and  water  ;  *  thus  also  were  fulfilled  two 
prophetical  passages  of  the  Old  Testament.f 

Meantime,  a  disciple  of  Jesus  and  a  man  of  wealth,  the 
Sanhedrist  Joseph  of  Arimathea — a  town  probably  to  be 
identified  with  Ramkh — had  come  to  Pilate  to  obtain  the 
body  of  Jesus.  The  Roman  procurator  had  not  the  least 
objection  to  grant  a  private  burial  for  a  man  whom  he  had 
so  often  proclaimed  innocent ;  but  as  crucified  criminals 
survived  much  longer  their  execution,  he  made  sure  from 
the  centurion  in  charge  of  Our  Lord's  crucifixion  that  Jesus 
was  really  dead,  and  then  he  freely  granted  the  request  of 
Joseph.  Having  purchased  fine  linen,  Joseph  repaired 
promptly  to  Golgotha,  where  he  was  joined  by  Nicodemus, 
one  of  his  colleagues  and  fellow-disciples,  who  brought 
about  a  hundred  pounds  of  spices  wherewith  to  embalm 
the  body  of  his  Master.  Together  they  took  down  the 
body,  wrapped  it  in  the  linen  cloth,  the  folds  of  which  they 
sprinkled  with  myrrh,  aloes  and  other  spices,  conveyed  it 
hastily  into  a  garden  near  the  place  of  the  crucifixion,  and 
laid  it  in  a  new  tomb  hewn  out  of  a  rock,  which  belonged 

*  While  most  commentators  regard  this  flowing  of  blood  and  water  as  supernatural, 
many  prefer  to  explain  it  by  the  separation  of  the  blood  of  the  heart  into  its  red  and 
white  parts,  a  separation  which  naturally  takes  place  after  death. 

t  Numb.  ix.  12:  Zach.  xiL  xo. 


THE    CRUCIFIXION.  217 

to  Joseph ;  finally,  having  rolled  a  great  stone  to  the 
entrance,  they  departed. 

The  holy  women  who  had  been  devoted  to  Jesus  during 
His  lifetime,  and  who  now  witnessed  His  hasty  burial, 
carefully  remarked  the  place  where  He  was  laid,  and  return- 
ing promptly  to  the  Holy  City,  they  purchased  spices  and 
ointments  for  a  more  perfect  embalming  of  Our  Lord's 
sacred  body  after  the  Sabbath  was  past. 

Apparently  it  was  all  over  with  the  Messianic  preten- 
sions of  Jesus,  whose  remains  now  lay  lifeless  in  the 
sepulchre.  And  yet  His  enemies,  remembering  His  pro- 
phetic words  about  rising  on  the  third  day,  preferred  to 
take  precautions  against  all  possible  contingencies.  The 
very  morning  of  their  great  Paschal  Sabbath,  they  therefore 
repaired  to  Pilate  and  obtained  from  him  permission  that 
the  sepulchre  should  be  made  secure  until  the  third  day. 
Accordingly,  the  door  of  the  sepulchre  was  carefully  sealed, 
and  Roman  soldiers  entrusted  with  the  charge  of  watching 
the  tomb  of  Jesus. 


SYNOPSIS  OF  CHAPTER  XX. 
The  Risen  Life  (Time  :   Forty  Days). 


The  Resur- 
rection: 


I.  Our  Lord's  Resurrection  Entirely  Unexpected. 


The  Visits  to  the 
Sepulchre: 


The  holy  women. 

Peter  and  John. 

The  soldiers  report  and  are 

bribed  by  the  priests  and 

ancients. 


II. 

Successive 

Apparitions 

OF  Jesus: 


I.  On  the  Day 

of  the 
Resurrec- 
tion 


to  Mary  Magdalen  alone. 

to  the  other  women  mentioned 

in  St.  Mark  xvi.  i. 
to  Simon  Peter  alone, 
to  two  disciples   going   to  Em- 

maus. 
to  the  apostles  in  the  absence 

of  Thomas. 

'In  Jerusalem  (a  week  later):  to 
the  apostles,  in  the  presence 
of  Thomas. 


2.    Up   to    the 
Ascension 


In  Galilee: 


to  seven  disciples. 
To  the  eleven. 
To  500  brethren. 


In  Jerusalem? 


to  James  only, 
to  all  the  Apos- 
tles. 


III. 

The  Ascen- 
sion: 


!: 


.  Time  and  Place. 
Our  Lord's  Last  Words  and  Actions. 


Conclusion  of  the  Life  of  Christ  (John  xx.  30,  31;  xxi.  34,  35) 

2i8 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE    RISEN    LIFE.       (tIME:    FORTY   DAYS.) 

§  I.   The  Resurrection^ 

I.  Our  Lord's  Resurrection  Entirely  Unexpected. 

The  day  which  followed  the  burial  of  Jesus  was  a  day 
of  exulting  triumph  for  His  enemies.  Without  the  least 
popular  tumult  they  had  arrested,  tried,  and  sentenced  Jesus 
and  had  caused  Him  to  pass  in  the  eyes  of  the  public  for  a 
blasphemer  justly  condemned  to  death  by  the  highest  au- 
thorities of  the  land.  He  had  undergone  a  most  shameful 
and  most  cruel  death  hard  by  the  walls  of  the  Holy  City, 
and  large  multitudes  had  seen  Him  hanging  upon  the  cross 
as  a  criminal  accursed  by  God.  His  immediate  followers 
were  dispersed,  and  a  Roman  guard  watched  over  His  sealed 
tomb.  What  appearance  was  there  that  He  should  be  heard 
of  again  except  as  "  a  seducer,"  that  is,  as  one  of  the  many 
unsuccessful  adventurers  who  had  excited  and  disappointed 
the  hopes  of  a  credulous  people  ?  In  this  frame  of  mind 
Our  Lord's  enemies  never  entertained  seriously  the  thought 
that  His  words  about  His  future  resurrection  could  prove  to 
be  true. 

Meantime  the  disciples  of  Jesus  were  wholly  disheart- 
ened by  the  ignominious  sufferings  and  death  of  Him  whom 

•Matt,  xxviii.  1-15 ;  Mark  xvi.  i-ii ;  Luke  xxiv.  1-12 ;  John  xx.  1-18.  The 
differences  noticeable  between  the  four  Evangelists  in  their  accounts  of  Our  Lord's  res- 
urrection offer  considerable  difificultyto  those  who  hold  a  strict  conception  of  inspiration 
in  regard  to  accuracy  of  details ;  but,  admitting  the  differences  here  spoken  of,  to  their 
fullest  extent,  they  by  no  means  impair  the  historical  value  of  the  Gospel  narrative. 
Cfr.  FouARD.  vol.  ii.,  p.  395  sq.;  Filuon,  St.  Matt.,  p.  562 ;  Plummer,  St,  Luke, 
p.  546 

ai9 


220  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

they  had  hoped  should  be  the  Redeemer  of  Israel.*  During 
these  hours  of  discouragement  and  stupor  it  never  came  to 
their  minds  that,  since  everything  had  so  far  come  to  pass  as 
He  had  foretold,  His  arising  from  the  tomb,  so  distinctly 
predicted  by  Him,  would  also  come  to  pass.  In  point  of 
fact  they  so  completely  lost  sight  of  His  prophetical  words  in 
this  respect  that  when  the  first  reports  of  Our  Lord's  resur- 
rection reached  them  they  treated  them  as  "  idle  tales,"  un- 
worthy of  credence,  f  It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  the  disciples 
of  Jesus  did  not  expect  His  resurrection  any  more  than  His 
enemies,  and  that  if  later  they  believed  in  His  resurrection 
they  yielded  assent  only  to  the  strongest  and  clearest  evi- 
dence. 

2.  The  Visits  to  the  Sepulchre.  The  first  to  pay  a 
visit  to  the  tomb  of  Jesus,  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  were 
the  holy  women  who  desired  very  much  to  complete  the 
embalming  of  their  Lord.  They  started  from  Jerusalem  as 
early  as  possible  on  that  Sunday  morning,!  ^ot  knowing  that 
the  sepulchre  of  their  Master  had  been  sealed  during  the 
course  of  the  Sabbath  and  was  guarded  by  the  Roman  sol- 
diers, so  that  the  only  difficulty  which  occurred  to  their 
minds,  in  the  way  of  accomplishing  their  pious  designs,  was 
that  of  removing  the  enormous  stone  they  had  seen  rolled 
to  the  entrance  of  Our  Lord's  tomb.  While  they  were  on 
their  way  to  the  sepulchre  the  earthquake  mentioned  by 
St.  Matthew  took  place,  an  angel  descended  and  rolled  the 
stone  away,  probably  only  to  allow  the  holy  women  to  enter, 
for  Jesus  had  risen  before  the  stone  was  removed.§  As 
they  approached  the  sepulchre,  they  saw  the  stone  rolled 
away,  and  one  of  them,  Mary  Magdalen,  who  naturally  in- 

*  Luke  xxxiv.  20,  21. 

t  Luke  xxiv.  11. 

t  John  xx.  i  ;  Matt,  xrviii.  i.  It  is  most  probable  that  in  chap,  xxviii.  i,  St.  Mat- 
thew refers  not  to  Saturday  eveningy  but  to  Saturday  nighty  when  that  night  was  al- 
ready well  spent,  and  consequently  towards  daybreak  on  Easter  Sunday.  Cfr.  Fillion, 
Meyer,  and  other  commentators. 

I  FouARD,  vol.  ii.,  p.  352,  footnote  3. 


THE    RISEN    LIFE.  221 

ferred  that  the  body  of  her  Lord  had  been  taken  away  by 
the  Jews,  ran  in  deep  excitement  to  announce  it  to  Peter 
and  John. 

As  at  this  moment  the  angel  was  not  actually  sitting  on 
the  removed  stone,  and  the  soldiers  had  already  departed, 
the  other  women  approached  nearer  and  soon  entered  the 
sepulchre.  There  they  met  angels,  one  of  whom,  calming 
their  fears,  told  them  that  Jesus  was  risen,  and  bade  them 
announce  that  He  would  meet  His  disciples  in  Galilee  ; 
whereupon  the  holy  women  left  the  sepulchre  and,  say- 
ing nothing  to  the  strangers  whom  they  met  by  the  way, 
they  hastened  to  find  those  for  whom  their  message  was 
intended. 

Soon  after  their  departure  Peter  and  John,  warned  by 
Mary  Magdalen,  come  running  with  all  speed,  soon  enter 
the  open  sepulchre,  examine  everything,  believe  in  Our 
Lord's  resurrection,*  and  then  return  home,  while  Mary 
Magdalen,  who  had  followed  them  back  to  Our  Saviour's 
tomb,  remained  behind  weeping. 

Meantime  the  Roman  guards,  who  at  first  had  been  struck 
with  terror  by  the  appearance  of  the  angel  who  rolled  the 
stone  away  from  the  door  of  the  sepulchre,  not  only  fled, 
but  hastened  to  report  to  the  chief  priests  their  breach 
of  duty,  and  in  order  to  exculpate  themselves,  they  detailed 
all  that  had  occurred.  At  this  news  a  meeting  of  the  San- 
hedrim was  convened,  wherein  it  was  resolved  to  conceal 
by  every  means  the  miraculous  disappearance  of  the  body  of 
Jesus.  Accordingly  the  chief  priests  and  ancients  gave 
heavy  bribes  to  the  soldiers,  who  were  thereby  induced  to 
affirm  that  while  they  were  sleeping.  Our  Lord's  body  had 
been  carried  away  by  His  disciples  ;  and  this  story,  indus- 
triously spread  by  the  Jewish  leaders,  soon  obtained  general 
credence  among  the  Jewish  multitude. 

•  See  FiLLioN,  St.  Jean,  p.  365 ;  Fouard,  vol.  ii.,  p.  354,  footnote  «. 


222  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY, 

§  2.  Successive  Apparitions  of  Jesus* 

I.  Apparitions  on  the  Day  of  the  Resurrection 

The  first  of  Our  Lord's  apparitions  recorded  in  the  Gospels 
occurred  in  favor  of  Mary  Magdalen,  whom  an  intense  sor- 
row detained  in  the  garden,  and  near  the  sepulchre  of  Jesus, 
even  after  the  return  of  Peter  and  John  to  the  Holy  City. 
Absorbed  in  her  grief,  and  not  expecting  to  see  our  risen 
Saviour,  she  at  first  mistook  Him  for  the  gardener,  but  when 
Jesus  pronounced  her  name,  she  at  once  recognized  the  well- 
known  tones  of  His  voice,  and  exclaimed,  "  My  Master  !  " 
In  her  transports  of  joy  she  wished  to  detain  Him  that  she 
might  express  to  Him  all  her  feelings  of  loving  gratitude, 
but  Jesus  would  not  allow  it  ;*  He  bade  her  go  and  say  to 
His  disciples,  "  I  ascend  to  My  Father  and  to  your  Father, 
to  My  God  and  to  your  God."  \ 

The  second  apparition  of  Our  Lord  was  granted  to  the 
other  women  mentioned  in  St.  Mark  (xvi.  i),  who  had  the  in- 
estimable privilege  of  kissing  His  feet  in  mark  of  reverent 
worship,  and  to  whom  He  gave  this  message  :  "  Go  tell  My 
brethren  that  they  go  into  Galilee  ;  there  they  shall  see 
Me."  X  It  should  be  noticed  that  up  to  this  time  Jesus  had 
appeared  only  to  women,  and  that  this  was  deemed  by  Our 
Lord's  disciples  quite  sufficient  to  question  the  reality  of 
His  resurrection.  § 

We  have  no  details  respecting  the  third  apparition  of 
Jesus ;  it  is  simply  stated  that  He  "  appeared  to  Simon," 
and  the  fact  seems  to  have  been  the  starting  point  of  the 
belief  of  some  disciples.  || 

Our  Lord's  fourth  apparition  on  this  glorious  day  of  His 
resurrection  is,  on  the  contrary,  recorded  quite  at  length  by 
St.  Luke  (xxiv.  13-35).    -^^  two  of  His  disciples  were  going 

*  About  the  various  reasons  assigned  by  commentators  to  this  unwillingness  of  Jesns 
to  be  detained  by  Mary  Magdalen,  cfr.  Fillion,  St.  Jean,  p.  368  sq. 

t  John  XX.  11-17.  t  Matt,  xxviii.  9-10. 

6  Cfr,  LuKB  xxiv.  34.  "  Cfr.  Lukb  xxiv.  33,  34. 


THE    RISEN    LIFE.  22$ 

to  Emmaus — a  town  which  cannot  be  identified  with  cer- 
tainty in  the  present  day,  but  which  was  about  7  or  8  miles 
from  Jerusalem — Jesus  joined  them  without  being  recognized 
by  them.  During  the  conversation  which  ensued,  they 
stated  their  own  discouraging  views  about  the  events  of  the 
preceding  week  and  those  of  the  present  day,  and  then  it 
was  that  Our  Lord  taught  them  from  the  Scriptures  that 
the  Christ  should  "  suffer  these  things  and  so  to  enter  into 
His  glory."  It  was  only  when,  being  at  table  with  them, 
"  He  took  bread  and  blessed  and  brake  and  gave  to  them," 
that  they  recognized  Jesus,  who  at  the  same  moment 
vanished  out  of  their  sight.  That  very  evening  they  re- 
turned to  Jerusalem  and  told  the  apostles  what  had  occurred. 

"  While  they  were  speaking  these  things"  Jesus  appeared 
for  the  fifth  and  last  time  on  the  day  of  His  resurrection. 
As  He  stood  suddenly  in  their  midst  the  ten  apostles  pres- 
ent— Thomas  was  then  absent — were  greatly  disturbed,  so 
that  to  convince  them  that  they  did  not  simply  see  a  spirit 
He  allowed  them  to  see  and  touch  His  hands  and  feet  and 
He  ate  before  them  ;  then  He  gave  them  power  to  remit 
and  retain  sins.* 

2.  Apparitions  up  to  the  Ascension.  A  week 
elapsed,  and  Our  Lord,  appearing  for  the  sixth  time,  found 
the  apostles  still  in  Jerusalem,  probably  in  the  upper  room 
where  He  had  celebrated  the  last  supper.  This  time  Thomas 
was  present,  and  as  he  heard  Jesus  bidding  him  to  examine 
for  himself  as  he  had  desired  to  do  he  felt  fully  convinced  of 
Our  Saviour's  resurrection,  and  he  therefore  exclaimed,  "  My 
Lord  and  my  God  !  "  This  fervent  act  of  faith  in  Our 
Lord's  resurrection  and  divinity  was  praised  by  Jesus,  who 
then  added  :  "  Blessed  are  they  that  have  not  seen,  and 
have  believed  !  "f 

At  length,  all  the  apostles  being  convinced  that  Jesus  was 
truly  risen,  complied  with  His  often-repeated  directions  to 

•  JoHW  XX.  19-33  ;  LuKB  xxiv.  36-43.  t  John  xx.  a4-s9> 


224  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

repair  to  Galilee.  The  first  recorded  apparition  of  Our  Lord 
in  that  province  occurred  by  the  lake  of  Genesareth.  He 
appeared  to  seven  of  His  disciples,  who,  in  company  with 
Peter,  had  spent  the  whole  night  in  unsuccessful  efforts  to 
catch  fishes,  and  He  bade  them  cast  their  net  on  the  right 
side  of  the  ship.  This  they  did,  and  their  obedience  was  at 
once  rewarded  by  an  abundant  draught  of  fishes  similar  to 
the  one  granted  to  them  during  Our  Lord's  mortal  life.* 
The  beloved  disciple  was  the  first  to  recognize  Jesus,  and 
he  said  so  to  Peter,  who,  with  his  usual  impetuosity,  cast 
himself  into  the  sea  and  came  to  his  Master  without  delay. 
It  was  also  on  this  memorable  occasion  that  Christ,  having 
asked  Peter  three  times,  "  Simon,  son  of  John,  lovest  thou 
Me  ?  "  invested  him  with  the  supreme  pastoral  office  in  the 
Christian  Church,  and  foretold  to  him  the  manner  of  his 
death,  a  thing  which  Jesus  declined  to  do  when  this  same 
disciple  inquired  about  the  future  of  St.  John.f 

Our  Lord's  next  apparition  in  Galilee  occurred  on  a 
mountain,  which  He  Himself  had  indicated  beforehand, 
but  which  is  not  named  in  the  Gospel  narrative.  The  eleven 
were  present — probably  with  some  other  disciples — and  they 
received  from  Him  to  whom  "  all  power  was  given  in  heaven 
and  on  earth"  their  great  commission  to  teach  and  baptize 
all  nations,  fully  sure  that  their  Master  would  be  with 
them  "  all  days,  even  to  the  consummation  of  the 
world."t 

The  last  apparition  of  Jesus  before  His  ascension  was 
granted  to  all  the  apostles,  who  were  gathered  together  once 
more  in  Jerusalem,  probably  in  the  upper  room.  The  festi- 
val of  Pentecost  was  not  far  distant  and  they  were  bidden 

*  Cfr.  Luke  v.  3  sq. 

t  Cfr.  John  xxi.  1-23. 

X  Matt,  xxviii.  16-20.  The  apparition  of  Jbsus  "  to  five  hundred  brethren  at  once," 
which  is  mentioned  by  St.  Paul  (i  Cor.  xv.  6),  took  place  probably  also  in  Galilee ; 
the  place  where  the  apparition  to  St.  James  occurred  mentioned  only  in  the  same 
Epistle  (chap.  xv.  7),  is  a  mere  matter  of  conjecture. 


THE   RISEN    LIFE.  225 

"  Stay   in   the  city "  till  they  should   "  be  endued   with 
power  from  on  high."  * 

§  3.    The  Ascension  (May  i8,  a.d.  30). 

1.  Time  and  Place.  For  forty  days  our  risen  Saviour 
had  lingered  on  this  earth,  appearing  time  and  again  to 
His  chosen  witnesses,  and  now  the  time  had  come  when 
He  was  to  withdraw  entirely  His  visible  presence  from 
them.  The  place  from  which  He  chose  to  take  His  final 
departure  was  a  spot  on  "  the  Mount  of  Olives,"  f  appar- 
ently on  its  eastern  slope  in  view  of  Bethany  \  and  about 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  Holy  City.§  A  very  old 
tradition,  however — it  goes  back  to  the  second  century  of 
our  era — places  Our  Lord's  ascension  on  the  western  side 
of  Mount  Olivet  and  upon  its  central  summit ;  and  this 
tradition  is  not  yet  entirely  disproved. || 

2.  Our  Lord's  Last  Words  and  Actions.  It  was 
the  feeling  of  the  apostles  when  Jesus  led  them  out  of 
Jerusalem  to  the  Mount  of  Olives  that  something  great 
was  at  hand,  and,  as  their  national  expectations  of  a  Mes- 
sianic temporal  rule  had  revived  with  the  certainty  of  their 
Master's  resurrection,  "they  asked  Him,  saying:  Lord, 
wilt  Thou  at  this  time  restore  again  the  kingdom  to 
Israel?"  This  question  proves  clearly  how  little  they  had 
realized  Our  Lord's  teachings  about  the  nature  of  His 
kingdom,  and  how  much  they  needed  the  light  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  understand  the  very  nature  of  their  own  mission 
after  the  departure  of  their  Master.  The  answer  of  Jesus 
was  such  as  not  to  hurt  their  feelings,  and  yet  such  as  to 
prepare  their  minds  for  their  real  mission  ;  the  coming  of 
His  kingdom  they  had  to  leave  to  His  Father's  care,  and 

*  LuKB  xxiv.  44-49.  With  regard  to  the  manner  in  which  St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke 
seem  to  connect  Our  Lord's  resurrection  directly  with  His  ascension  cfr.  Andrews, 
pp.  634-637- 

t  Acts  i.  la.  X  Luke  xxiv.  50.  §  Acts  i.  12. 

0  See  v.  GuERiN,  La  Terre  Sainte,  vol.  i.,  p.  112  sq. ;  Fillion,  St.  Luc,  p.  415. 


226  OUTLINES  OF   NEW   TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

their  own  mission  of  witnesses  of  His  resurrection,  divinity, 
teachings,  etc.,  they  would  courageously  discharge  for  the 
benefit  of  all  nations  after  they  had  received  the  power  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.* 

Meantime  Our  Lord  had  reached  with  them  the  Mount 
of  the  Ascension  ;  there,  lifting  up  His  hands,  He  rose  from 
their  sight  and  slowly  disappeared  in  a  cloud,  "  and  was 
carried  up  to  heaven,"  f  where  "  He  sitteth  on  the  right 
hand  of  God."  t 

CONCLUSION. 

With  this  narrative  of  the  ascension  we  naturally  bring 
to  a  close  our  summary  account  of  Our  Lord's  life.  Our 
study,  however  rapid,  of  the  facts  Narrated  in  the  canonical 
gospels  proves  to  evidence  that  Jesus  was  not  simply  an 
extraordinary  man,  a  wonderful  teacher  and  a  powerful 
worker  of  miracles  :  He  was  also  "  the  Word  made  flesh," 
the  very  Son  of  God  sent  by  the  eternal  Father  to  lay  down 
His  life  for  the  redemption  of  the  world.  On  the  one  hand, 
the  circumstances  of  His  birth,  the  miracles  He  performed, 
the  title  of  "  Son  of  Man  "  He  so  constantly  assumed.  His 
distinct  claim  to  Jewish  kingship  and  Messiahship,  together 
with  His  perfectly  sinless  life,  prove  Him  to  be  the  long- 
expected  Messias  ;  on  the  other  hand,  His  repeated  affirma- 
tions of  equality  with  the  Almighty,  His  own  positive  and 
solemn  declaration  before  the  Sanhedrim  that  He  was  the 
"  Son  of  God  "  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  word,  and,  indeed. 
His  general  attitude  during  His  public  life,  demand  that 
every  candid  inquirer  into  His  life  and  character  believe 
Him  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  "  that  believing,  he  may  have 
life  in  His  name."  § 

*  Acts  i.  6-8.  t  Luke  xxiv.  50,  51.  ^MARKzvi.  19.  {Johnzx.  31 


PART  SECOND. 

THE  APOSTOLIC   HISTORY. 


SYNOPSIS   OF   CHAPTER   XXI. 

Apostolic  Work  in  Palestine. 
(Acts  i.-xii.) 


I. 

Pentecost 

AND  THE  First 

Converts  : 

(  Acts  i.-v.). 


Pentecost: 


2.  The   First 
Converts: 


The   disciples  gathered  in  the 

upper  room. 
The  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost 

and      the     discourse    of     St. 

Peter. 

Circumstances  of  their  conver- 
sion. 

Their  manner  of  life. 

The  apostles  before  the  San- 
hedrim. 


II.  fi.  Their  Ordination,  Names  and  Office. 

The  First      J  2.  Zeal  and  Martyrdom  of  St.  Stephen. 
Deacons:        j  3.  The  Work  of  St.  Philip  (Conversion  of   the 
(Actsvi.-viii.).    (.  Samaritans — Baptism  of  the  Eunuch,  etc.). 


III. 

Work  of  St. 

Peter 

outside 

Jerusalem: 

(Acts  ix.  31  ; 

xi.  23). 


I.  Peter's  Visita- 
tion of  "the 
Saints": 


"The     peace     of    the 

Church." 
St.    Peter    at   Lydda    and 

Joppe. 


2.  The  Conversion  of  Cornelius:    the  fact  and 
its  importance. 


3.  St.  Peter  in  An- 
tioch: 


Early  introduction  o  f 
Christianity  into  that 
city. 

Tradition  as  to  St.  Peter's 
residence  in  Antioch. 


IV. 

Persecution 

UNDER  Herod 

Agrippa  I. : 

(Acts  xii.). 


1.  Herod  Agrippa  I.:  The  Man  and  His  Rule 

(A.D.  41-44).  ^  ^    ,. 

2.  Martyrdom  of  St.  James.    Arrest  and  Deliver- 

ance of  St.  Peter. 

3.  Tradition   Respecting  the  Departure  of  the 

Apostles  from  Jerusalem. 

328 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

APOSTOLIC    WORK    IN    PALESTINE    (a.D.    3O-44). 

§  I.  Pentecost  and  the  First  Converts.^ 

I.  Pentecost.f  It  was  in  compliance  with  the  parting 
recommendation  of  their  risen  Master  that,  leaving  the 
Mount  of  the  Ascension,  the  disciples  of  Jesus  returned  to 
Jerusalem.  They  carried  with  them  the  explicit  promise 
that  within  a  few  days  they  should  receive  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  they  instinctively  felt  the  need  to  prepare  for  this 
heavenly  blessing  by  cultivating  a  devout  frame  of  mind. 
Day  after  day  they  were  assiduous  in  the  Temple  at  the 
time  of  the  morning  and  evening  sacrifices,  and  outside 
these  sacred  hours  they  gathered  in  the  upper  room — 
probably  the  one  wherein  their  Master  had  celebrated  His 
last  supper — and  "persevered  with  one  mind  in  prayer 
with  the  women,  and  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus,  and  with 
His  brethren." 

Soon  they  were  joined  by  former  disciples  of  Jesus,  and 
one  day,  when  there  were  about  120  gathered  together, 
Peter,  whose  right  of  pre-eminence  was  unquestioned, 
invited  those  present  to  fill  up  the  vacancy  in  the  number 
of  the  apostles  caused  by  the  treachery  and  death  of 
Judas.J  The  one  finally  selected  for  the  apostolic  office 
was  Matthias,  one  of  those  who  had  best  known  Jesus  dur- 
ing His  mortal  life.  § 

*  Acts  i.-v.  t  Acts  i.-ii.  36. 

X  The  discrepancy  between  Acts  i.  18,  19,  and  St.  Matt,  xxvii.  6-8,  concerning  the 
buying  of  the  potter's  field  with  the  money  of  the  traitor,  is  perhaps  to  be  traced  back 
to  two  different  traditions  embodied  in  the  sacred  records. 

§  Acts  i.  15-26. 

229 


230  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

It  was  not  long  after  the  mystical  number  of  twelve  had 
thus  been  restored  when  the  promised  outpouring  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  was  granted  to  the  gathered  disciples  of  Christ. 
This  occurred  on  the  fiftieth  day  after  the  Passover-Sab- 
bath, under  circumstances  the  miraculous  character  of 
which  is  clearly  implied  in  the  sacred  narrative.  But  as 
might  naturally  be  expected,  this  miraculous  character  was 
not  realized  by  the  Jewish  multitudes  which  "  out  of  every 
nation  "  had  convened  in  Jerusalem  for  the  celebration  of 
the  Pentecost  festival :  while  most  witnesses  of  the  event 
simply  wondered,  saying  one  to  another:  "What  meaneth 
this  ? "  Many  of  a  less  serious  turn  of  mind  derided  the 
ecstatic  condition  of  the  apostles  and  exclaimed:  "These 
men  are  full  of  new  wine."  Whereupon  Peter,  again  taking 
the  lead,  boldly  addressed  the  assembled  Jews.  In  what 
they  witnessed  he  bade  his  hearers  to  see  the  fulfilment  of 
ancient  prophecy  regarding  the  last  days — that  is,  the  days 
of  the  Messias  ;  and  in  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  whom  he 
called  "  a  man  approved  of  God  among  them  by  miracles, 
and  wonders,  and  signs,"  and  whom  they  had  lately  cruci- 
fied and  slain,  he  showed  that  they  should  recognize  the 
true  Messias  whose  death  and  resurrection  had  been  fore- 
told by  the  Royal  Prophet.  * 

2.  The  First  Converts,  f  Great  indeed  was  the 
effect  of  this  first  public  discourse  of  St.  Peter.  It  brought 
home  to  his  hearers  the  magnitude  of  the  crime  committed 
by  their  nation,  and  numbers  among  them,  "about  3000 
souls,"  pricked  to  the  heart,  willingly  heard  the  further 
instructions  of  the  apostle,  believed  his  words,  received 
baptism,  and  thus  became  the  first  converts  to  Christianity.]! 

Similar  results  soon  followed  on  the  great  miracle  of  the 
healing  of  the  lame  man  at  the  Beautiful  Gate  of  the 
Temple,  which  is  detailed  with  such  vividness  in  the  sacred 
record,  and  after  which  St.  Peter  addressed  a  second  dis- 

♦  Acts  ii.  1-36.  t  Acts  ii.  37-v.  t  Acts  ii.  37-47- 


APOSTOLIC    WORK    IN    PALESTINE.  23 1 

course  to  the  Jewish  multitudes.  He  reproached  them  with 
their  great  crime  against  "the  Holy  One  and  the  Just" 
whom  God  had  raised  from  the  dead,  and  bade  them  to 
secure  themselves  against  the  day  of  Christ's  second  coming 
by  a  sincere  conversion  and  by  a  heart-felt  obedience  to 
Jesus  Christ  as  "  the  Prophet "  predicted  by  Moses  and 
all  the  prophets  of  old.  Finally,  he  exhorted  them,  as  the 
children  of  Abraham,  that  they  should  avail  themselves  of 
the  divine  blessing,  of  which  Christ's  resurrection  was  the 
pledge,  first  to  them  and  next  to  all  nations.* 

These  words — to  which  many  unrecorded  were  added  by 
Peter  and  John — sank  so  deeply  into  the  minds  and  hearts 
of  the  listeners  that,  as  the  sacred  text  tells  us,  "  many  of 
them  who  had  heard  the  word  believed  :  and  the  number 
of  the  men  was  made  five  thousand."  f 

Converts  made  under  the  influence  of  such  extraordinary 
events  were  naturally  filled  with  the  greatest  ardor  and 
generosity.  Not  only  did  they  listen  eagerly  to  the  further 
instructions  of  the  apostles,  but  they  also  carried  them  out 
earnestly  in  their  daily  life.  All  around  them  were  struck 
with  their  faithful  attendance  at  the  public  services  of  the 
Temple,  and  especially  with  their  wonderful  love  for  one 
another.  In  point  of  fact  this  brotherly  love  was,  accord- 
ing to  the  wish  of  Christ,  the  feature  which  most  distin- 
guished the  nascent  church  of  Jerusalem,  of  which  it  is 
written  that  "  the  multitude  of  believers  had  but  one  heart 
and  one  soul."  It  united  them  every  evening  at  a  meal 
which  to  all  appearances  ended  with  the  reception  of  the 
Holy  Eucharist,  and  it  led  them  to  a  real  community  of 
goods,  not  unlike  that  which  had  existed  between  Jesus 
Himself  and  His  apostles,  the  wants  of  all  being  defrayed 
from  a  common  purse.  J  Of  course  the  selling  of  their 
property  by  the  first  converts,  as  well  as  their  entrusting  of 
the  price  to  the  apostles  for  the  relief  of  needy  brethren, 

♦  Acts  iii.  1-26.  t  Acts  iv.  i,  4.  t  Acts  ii.  42,  44-47 ;  iv.  32,  34,  35. 


233  OUTLINES    OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

was  a  free  act  on  their  part,  and  the  awful  death  which 
befell  Ananias,  and  Saphira  his  wife,  was  a  chastisement 
inflicted  on  them  simply  because  of  their  sinful  attempt  at 
gratifying  their  avarice  while  appearing  to  practise  perfect 
detachment  from  worldly  goods.  * 

The  admirable  life  of  the  first  converts,  together  with 
the  numerous  miracles  performed  by  the  apostles,  contrib- 
uted powerfully  to  increase  the  number  of  the  believers, 
and  this  in  turn  called  forcibly  the  attention  of  the  Jewish 
authorities  to  the  fact  that  the  followers  of  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth had  rallied — nay,  even  that  they  were  making  rapid 
and  numerous  conquests  in  Jerusalem.  This  was  of  course 
a  movement  most  unwelcome  to  the  Jewish  leaders,  and 
they  resolved  to  check  it  without  delay.  In  consequence, 
while  Peter  and  John  were  still  speaking  to  the  people 
after  the  healing  of  the  lame  man  at  the  Beautiful  Gate, 
the  priestly  guardians  of  the  Temple,  together  with  the 
Sadducees  (these  last  being  especially  annoyed  at  the  doc- 
trine of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  implied  in  the  apos- 
tolic preaching  of  Christ's  resurrection),  arrested  the  two 
apostles  and  put  them  into  prison,  intending  on  the  morrow 
to  institute  a  formal  trial.  The  next  day  the  Sanhedrim  in 
full  meeting  inquired  of  Peter  and  John  :  "  By  what  power 
or  by  what  name  have  you  done  this  ?  "  Whereupon  Peter 
declared  openly  that  the  miracle  had  been  wrought  by  the 
name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  whom  the  Sanhedrists  had 
indeed  crucified,  but  whom  God  had  raised  from  the  dead, 
and  who  was  the  only  Saviour  ever  to  be  expected. 

This  bold  language  astounded  the  Jewish  authorities  and 
threw  them  on  the  defensive.  Unable  alike  to  deny  the 
reality  of  the  miracle,  because  patent  to  all,  and  to  inflict 
any  punishment  on  its  authors  because  praised  for  it  by  the 
people  at  large,  they  were  finally  compelled  to  dismiss  Peter 
and  John,  threatening  them,  however,  with  severe  punish- 

*  Acts  v,  i-u. 


APOSTOLIC    WORK    IN    PALESTINE.  233 

ments  should  they  persevere  in  teaching  in  the  name  of 
Jesus.* 

The  first  arrest  was  soon  followed  by  another,  which  was 
also  caused  by  the  desire  of  the  Jewish  leaders  to  put  a 
stop  to  the  miracles  of  the  apostles  and  to  prevent  the 
growth  of  the  Church  in  Jerusalem.  The  news  of  the 
miraculous  deliverance  of  the  prisoners  during  the  night 
after  the  arrest  disconcerted,  at  first,  the  Sanhedrists  who 
had  hastily  convened  to  judge  the  refractory  apostles.  But 
when  the  culprits  appeared  before  their  tribunal,  and  openly 
declared  their  preference  "  to  obey  God  rather  than  men," 
and  their  firm  resolve  to  continue  their  preaching  of  the  res- 
urrection and  Messiahship  of  Jesus,  the  Jewish  authorities, 
considering  themselves  despised,  thought  of  putting  the 
prisoners  to  death.  But  the  more  moderate  view  of  the 
venerable  Gamaliel  prevailed  in  the  council.  His  col- 
leagues agreed  with  him  that  if  the  movement  originated 
by  the  apostles  was  not  of  God  it  would  soon  come  to 
nothing,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  movement  started 
some  time  before  by  Theodas,t  and  after  him  by  Judas  of 
Galilee,  those  two  bold  deceivers  who,  despite  their  great 
pretension  and  temporary  success,  had  met  with  speedy 
destruction  without  the  least  intervention  of  the  Sanhe- 
drim. In  consequence,  the  apostles  were  simply  scourged, 
and  then  dismissed  with  the  renewed  injunction  "that 
they  should  not  speak  at  all  in  the  name  of  Jesus,"  an 
injunction  which  was  of  course  soon  disobeyed  by  men 
who,  like  the  apostles,  "  rejoiced  that  they  were  accounted 
worthy  to  suffer  reproach  for  that  sacred  name."! 

*  Acts  ii.  47 ;  iv.  1-23. 

t  Commentators  are  much  perplexed  as  to  the  manner  of  reconciling  Gamaliel's  ref- 
erence to  Theodas  with  the  statement  of  Josephus  (Antiq.  of  the  Jews,  book  XX.,  chap, 
v.,  §  I.),  who  places  the  death  of  this  ringleader  some  twelve  years  later.  (See  Fouard, 
St.  Peter,  p.  35,  footnote  i ;  Alford  ;  Meyer  ;  Creliek  ;  etc.) 

X  Acts  v.  12-42. 


234  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

§  2.  The  First  Deacons,  * 

I.  Their  Ordination,  Names  and  Office.  As  time 
went  on  and  the  Church  greatly  increased  in  numbers,  the 
wonderful  harmony  of  mind  and  heart  which  had  hitherto 
prevailed  among  the  believers  was  seriously  endangered  by 
the  neglect  which  the  Hebrews  or  Palestinian  Jews  charged 
with  the  care  of  the  widows  gradually  showed  in  ministering 
to  the  needs  of  the  widows  of  the  Hellenists,  or  Greek- 
speaking  Jews,  born  out  of  the  Holy  Land.  Naturally 
enough,  the  apostles,  to  whose  ears  the  murmurs  of  the 
Hellenists  came,  did  not  think  it  proper  that  they  should 
restrict  their  preaching  of  "  the  word  of  God  "  to  ascertain 
themselves  that  at  table  each  and  all  received  their  due 
share.  Desirous,  however,  of  righting  everything,  they 
called  on  the  body  of  believers  to  choose  seven  men  of 
unexceptionable  character,  "whom  they  might  appoint  over 
this  business." 

All  the  candidates  chosen  bore  Greek  names,  whence 
many  have  inferred  that  no  Palestinian  Jew  was  numbered 
among  them.  This,  however,  is  at  best  a  very  question- 
able inference,  inasmuch  as  Greek  names  were  very  fre- 
quent among  Jews  born  in  the  Holy  Land.  Indeed,  the 
reverse  is  much  more  likely;  it  is  even  probable  that  the 
two  principal  elements  of  the  early  Church — the  Hebrews 
and  the  Hellenists — had  an  equal  number  of  representa- 
tives among  the  future  deacons,  while  its  least  numerous 
element,  that  of  the  proselytes,  had  only  one  representative, 
the  candidate  Nicolas,  whom  the  sacred  text  distinctly 
calls  "  a  proselyte  of  Antioch."  However  this  may  be,  the 
apostles  ratified  at  once  the  choice  of  the  multitude. 
They  prayed  fervently  to  God,  and  then  solemnly  imposed 
hands  upon  the  seven  candidates,  thereby  consecrating 
them  for  the  ministry  of  the  Church.f 

♦  Acts  vi.-viii.  t  Acts  vi.  i-6. 


APOSTOLIC    WORK   IN    PALESTINE.  23$ 

The  precise  nature  of  the  functions  entrusted  to  the 
newly  ordained  deacons  can  hardly  be  defined  in  the 
present  day.  They  were  of  course  in  harmony  with  the 
circumstances  which  attended  this  first  step  in  Church  or- 
ganization, and  in  consequence  they  certainly  extended  to 
whatever  was  then  intimately  connected  with  the  daily 
ministration  at  tables.*  Whether  preaching  and  baptizing 
are  also  to  be  counted  among  the  regular  functions  of  the 
first  deacons  does  not  appear.f 

2.  Zeal  and  Martyrdom  of  St.  Stephen.  Most 
happy  results  soon  followed  on  this  ordination  of  the  first 
deacons.  The  holy  ministration  of  these  men,  "  full  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  wisdom,"  restored  promptly  perfect  har- 
mony within  the  Church,  and  secured  to  the  apostles  all 
the  freedom  from  material  care,  which  they  needed  to  push 
with  renewed  vigor  and  success  the  preaching  of  "  the  word 
of  the  Lord."  In  point  of  fact,  Jews  in  great  numbers 
became  converted,  and  even  "  a  large  multitude  of  the 
priests  obeyed  the  faith." 

Conversions  so  numerous  and  so  important  were  also 
caused,  to  a  large  extent,  by  the  great  miracles  and  fearless 
zeal  of  St.  Stephen,  the  first  and  foremost  of  the  newly 
ordained  deacons.  As  a  valiant  champion  of  his  faith,  he 
did  not  hesitate  to  sustain  a  series  of  disputations  with  the 
Hellenistic  Jews  of  five  different  synagogues,  "  his  compan- 
ions in  race  and  birthplace."  I  Unable  to  bear  calmly 
their  repeated  defeats  by  the  inspired  disciple  of  Christ, 
and  fearing  the  effect  of  his  victories  upon  the  people  at 
large,  several  adversaries  of  St.  Stephen  resolved  to  com- 
pass his  ruin.  For  this  purpose  they  artfully  spread  the  ru- 
mor that  he  had  uttered  blasphemous  words  "  against  Moses 
and  against  God,"  and  when  the  public  mind  was  suffi- 
ciently prepared  for  his  arrest,  they  rushed  upon  him  and 

*Cfr.  Acts  vi.  1-3. 

»  Cfr.  Art.  Diacre  in  ViGOUKOinc,  Dictionoaire  de  la  Bible.  t  Stamlbt. 


236  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

dragged  him  before  the  Sanhedrim.  There  they  set  up 
false  witnesses,  who  declared:  "We  have  heard  this  man 
saying  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  shall  destroy  this  place,  and 
shall  change  the  traditions  which  Moses  delivered  unto  us." 

Instead  of  a  direct  answer  of  the  holy  deacon  to  these 
calumnious  charges,  the  sacred  text  records  a  long  dis- 
course, the  general  purport  of  which  can  alone  be  men- 
tioned here.  By  means  of  an  historical  retrospect,  St.  Ste- 
phen exhorted  his  hearers  to  see  in  Jesus  the  Messias 
foretold  by  Moses  and  all  the  prophets,  and  not  to  show 
themselves  imitators  of  the  rebellious  spirit  which  had  ever 
animated  their  forefathers.  His  words  were  bold,  nay, 
even  aggressive,  especially  when  he  denounced  his  judges 
as  "the  betrayers  and  murderers  of  the  Just  One";  yet 
they  afforded  nothing  to  substantiate  the  charge  of  blas- 
phemy brought  against  him  and  to  justify  a  sentence  of 
death.  Not  so,  apparently,  with  his  exclamation,  "  Behold, 
I  see  the  heavens  opened,  and  the  Son  of  Man  standing  on 
the  right  hand  of  God  !  "  for  scarcely  had  he  uttered  it 
when  "  with  one  accord  they  ran  violently  upon  him,  and 
casting  him  forth  without  the  city,  they  stoned  him." 

The  book  of  the  Acts  clearly  implies  that  no  permission 
was  asked  from  the  Romans  to  put  Stephen  to  death,  and 
even  that  his  execution  was  carried  out  without  a  formal 
sentence  by  the  Sanhedrim.  The  place  where  Christ's 
first  martyr  died  praying  for  his  murderers  is  most  likely 
somewhat  to  the  north  of  the  present  Damascus  Gate,  and 
very  near  the  grotto  of  Jeremias.* 

3.  The  Work  of  St.  Philip.  With  the  death  of  St. 
Stephen  began  a  most  severe  persecution  of  the  faithful  of 
Jerusalem,  which  led  to  the  dispersion  far  and  wide  of  a 
large  number  among  them,  and  thereby  contributed  greatly 
to   the   spread  of  Christianity,  f      The  surviving  deacons 

*  Acts  vi.  7-vii.    See  also  Fouard,  St.  Peter,  chap,  iv.;  and  McGiffbrt,  The  Apos- 
tolic Age,  p.  85  sq. 
t  Acts  xi.  19. 


APOSTOLIC    WORK    IN    PALESTINE.  237 

had  fled  also;  and  the  successful  work  of  St.  Philip,  one  of 
them,  is  now  narrated  in  the  book  of  the  Acts.  We  are 
told  how,  being  on  Samaritan  territory,  he  made  by  words 
and  miracles  numerous  converts,  among  whom  was  Simon 
the  magician;  how  he  was  soon  after  directed  to  go  and 
overtake  the  eunuch  of  the  queen  of  Ethiopia,  then  on  his 
return  from  Jerusalem,  and  how  he  converted  and  baptized 
him;  finally,  how,  miraculously  withdrawn  from  the  sight  of 
the  eunuch,  he  was  found  in  Azotus,  whence  he  reached 
Caesarea,  preaching  the  Gospel  to  all  the  cities  on  his  way.* 

§  3.    Work  of  St  Peter  outside  /erusalem.\ 

I.  Peter's  Visitation  of  "  the  Saints."  In  the  midst 
of  the  general  dispersion  caused  by  the  persecution  then 
raging  against  the  church  of  Jerusalem,  the  apostles  had 
considered  it  their  duty  to  remain  firm  in  the  Holy  City,  as 
the  great  capital  of  the  Messianic  kingdom.  It  is  there 
that  they  heard  the  comforting  news  of  the  successful 
preaching  of  St.  Philip  in  Samaria,  and  that,  in  their  desire 
to  strengthen  the  new  converts, "  they  sent  unto  them  Peter 
and  John."  Soon  after  their  arrival  the  two  apostles  im- 
posed their  hands  upon  those  who  so  far  had  only  received 
Christian  baptism,  and  by  this  rite— in  which  Catholic 
theology  has  ever  seen  the  sacramental  rite  of  Confirma- 
tion— imparted  to  them  the  Holy  Ghost.  Before  returning 
to  Jerusalem  Peter  and  John  availed  themselves  of  their 
passage  through  the  Samaritan  territory  to  preach  the  Gos- 
pel in  many  villages.]: 

The  visit  of  the  other  districts  evangelized  by  St.  Philip 
was  prudently  postponed  until  the  persecution  should  have 
abated,  and,  in  point  of  fact,  peace  was  restored  to  the 
Christian  communities  of  Palestine  not  long  afterwards. 
This  occurred  when  the  prolonged  attempts  of  the  Emperor 

•  Acts  viii.;  efr.  also  xxi.  8,  9.  f  Acts  ix.  31 ;  zi.  33.       X  Acts  viii.  i  b,  14-8$ 


238  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

Caligula  to  have  his  statue  set  up  and  worshipped  in  the 
Temple  of  Jerusalem  caused  so  much  alarm  among  the 
Jews  that  they  had  neither  time  nor  thought  to  continue 
their  persecution  of  the  disciples  of  Christ.  Under  these 
circumstances  the  postponed  visit  could  be  safely  made, 
and  it  was  now  carried  out  by  St.  Peter  alone.* 

Of  this  visitation  of  "  the  saints,"  that  is,  of  the  baptized 
believers,  only  two  miraculous  incidents  are  recorded  in 
the  sacred  text.  The  first  was  the  healing  of  the  paralytic 
Eneas,  which  St.  Peter  performed  in  the  important  town  of 
Lydda,  some  20  miles  northwest  of  Jerusalem.  The  sec- 
ond was  the  raising  to  life  of  a  pious  widow  named  Ta- 
bitha,  which  he  wrought  soon  after  his  arrival  at  Joppe,  a 
seaport  only  10  miles  distant  from  Lydda.  These  two 
miracles  were  of  considerable  importance  for  the  Christian 
Church  outside  Jerusalem:  besides  confirming  the  faith  of 
those  already  converted,  they  won  to  the  Gospel  numbers 
of  Jews  whom  the  preaching  of  St.  Philip  had  failed  to 
convince.! 

2.  The  Conversion  of  Cornelius.  An  event  of  still 
greater  importance  for  the  Church  at  large  occurred  not 
long  afterwards :  it  is  detailed  in  the  inspired  record  of  the 
Acts,  and  is  in  substance  as  follows.  During  the  "many 
days  "  of  St.  Peter's  abode  in  Joppe  an  uncircumcised  cen- 
turion of  Caesarea,  named  Cornelius,  in  compliance  with  an 
angelic  message,  sent  for  the  apostle,  to  learn  from  him  the 
divine  will  in  his  regard.  As  the  men  dispatched  by  Cor- 
nelius approached  the  city  on  the  following  day,  St.  Peter 
was  favored  with  a  vision,  the  exact  meaning  of  which  he 
realized  only  after  the  messengers  of  the  centurion  made 
known  to  him  the  purport  of  their  mission.  The  interview 
solicited  took  place,  and  while  St.  Peter  was  addressing 
Cornelius  and  the  friends  he  had  gathered  around  him 

*  Cfr.  JosBPHUs,  Antiq.  of  the  Jews,  book  XVIII.,  chap,  viii.,  $  a  sq. 
t  Acts  iz.  91-43. 


APOSTOLIC    WORK    IN    PALESTINE.  239 

"the  Holy  Ghost  fell  on  all  them  that  heard  the  word"; 
whereupon  the  apostle  ordered  that  these  Gentiles,  who  had 
visibly  received  the  Holy  Ghost  in  exactly  the  same  man- 
ner .s  the  Jews,  should  be  baptized  at  once  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.* 

This  event  marked  a  new  and  important  stage  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  early  Church.  Hitherto  the  preachers  of 
the  Gospel  had  addressed  themselves  only  to  their  fellow 
Jews  or  to  the  Samaritans,  who  might  be  considered  as  be- 
longing to  the  same  stock  as  Israel,  or,  again,  to  proselytes 
already  adopted  into  the  Jewish  people  by  the  rite  of  cir- 
cumcision; henceforth  they  will  endeavor  to  make  the  Gen- 
tiles also  disciples  of  Jesus  and  sharers  in  His  Messianic 
kingdom.  As,  however,  St.  Peter  "  had  gone  into  men 
uncircumcised  and  eaten  with  them,"  the  Jewish  Christians 
found  fault  with  such  close  fellowship,  and  were  reconciled 
with  his  line  of  action  only  when,  upon  his  return  to  Jeru- 
salem, he  made  it  clear  by  his  detailed  recital  of  what  had 
happened,  that  from  beginning  to  end  he  had  acted  by 
divine  commission.! 

3.  St.  Peter  in  Antioch.  It  is  not  improbable  that 
this  first  admission  of  Gentiles  into  the  Church  without  sub- 
jecting them  to  the  rite  of  circumcision  was  considered  by 
the  Jewish  Christians  of  Jerusalem  simply  as  an  exception 
granted  by  Heaven  to  Cornelius  and  a  few  of  his  friends; 
and  in  point  of  fact,  those  of  the  Jewish  Christians  of  the 
Holy  City  who  had  been  dispersed  by  the  recent  persecu- 
tion, and  had  been  preaching  "  as  far  as  Phenicia,  and 
Cyprus  and  Antioch,"  continued  to  preach  "  to  the  Jews 
only."  I  Fortunately,  a  different  view  of  the  occurrence 
was  taken  and  acted  upon  by  men  less  wedded  to  the  old 
Jewish  notions.  At  their  arrival  in  Antioch,  men  of  Cy- 
prus and  Cyrene,  treading  in  the  footsteps  of  St.  Peter, 
preached  the  Gospel  to  the  Gentiles  of  that  city,  and  did 

•  Acts  iz.  4j-x.  t  Acts  xi.  1-18;  xv.  7.  t  Acts  xi.  19. 


24©  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

not  impose  upon  their  converts  the  obligation  of  being 
circumcised.  Their  conduct  was  wonderfully  blessed  by 
Heaven,  and  it  soon  afterwards  received  what  maybe  con- 
sidered the  formal  approval  of  the  church  of  Jerusalem. 
This  church,  which  still  acted  as  the  metropolis  of  the 
Messianic  kingdom,  sent  Barnabas  as  far  as  Antioch,  to 
inquire  into  the  condition  of  the  nascent  Christian  commu- 
nity of  that  city;  and  this  official  deputy  approved  heartily 
all  that  he  noticed  there,  because  he  clearly  recognized  in 
it  the  effect  of  divine  grace.* 

It  is  difficult  to  state,  in  the  present  day,  at  what  precise 
time  the  direct  connection  of  St.  Peter  with  the  church 
of  Antioch  began.  On  the  one  hand,  a  tradition  which 
goes  back  to  the  middle  of  the  third  century  of  our  era 
affirms  that  the  prince  of  the  apostles  was  its  founder  and 
first  bishop.  On  the  other  hand,  the  inspired  book  of  the 
Acts  clearly  implies  that  a  large  and  well-organized  Chris- 
tian community  had  been  in  existence  in  the  capital  of  Syria 
long  before  St.  Peter  visited  it  in  person.f 

§  4.  Persecution  under  Herod  Agrippa  I.  \ 

I.   Herod  Agrippa  I.:    The  Man  and  His  Rule. 

With  the  accession  of  Claudius,  the  successor  of  Caligula,  to 
the  empire,  the  power  of  a  grandson  of  Herod  the  Great, 
named  Herod  Agrippa  I.,  reached  the  highest  point,  for  to 
the  territories  already  bestowed  upon  him  by  Caligula,  the 
new  emperor  added  those  of  Judaea  and  Samaria.  The  man 
who  thus  became  king  of  *' all  Judaea,"  as  Josephus  puts  it, 
had  hitherto  been  a  bold  adventurer  who  showed  himself 
wherever  he  went  a  crafty,  frivolous  and  extravagant  prince  ; 
and  of  course,  when  he  took  possession  of  his  new  estates, 

♦  Acts  xi.  20-24. 

t  Cfr.  Acts  ».  24  sq. ;  see  also  Tillemont,  Memoires,  tome  i.,  art.  xxvii ;  DoLUW' 
GBK,  Origines  du  Christianisme,  vol  i.,  p.  56;  Fouard,  St.  Peter,  chap.  ix. 
X  Acts  xii. 


APOSTOLIC    WORK    IN    PALESTINE,  24I 

he  did  not  think  for  a  moment  of  seriously  amending  his 
evil  ways.  All  that  he  cared  for,  in  fact,  during  the  three 
years  of  his  rule,  was  to  be  well  with  the  Pharisees,  who 
then  held  the  nation  under  their  control.  With  this  end  in 
view  he  selected  Jerusalem  as  his  usual  place  of  residence, 
carried  out  with  punctiliousness  the  Jewish  observances, 
and  showed  himself  a  zealous  defender  of  the  interests  of 
Judaism  at  home  and  abroad.* 

2.  Martyrdom  of  St.  James.  Arrest  and  Deliver- 
ance of  St.  Peter.  It  was  simply  in  harmony  with  his 
constant  Judaistic  policy,  that  Herod  Agrippa  I.  should 
sooner  or  later  "  stretch  forth  his  hands  to  afflict  some  of 
the  Church."  The  first  victim  of  this  new  persecution — 
which  apparently  aimed  at  the  heads  of  the  nascent  Church 
— was  no  less  a  personage  than  James,  the  brother  of  John, 
who  formerly  had  asked  Jesus  to  allow  him  to  sit  at  His  right 
hand  in  His  kingdom,  and  who  now  was  the  first  of  the  twelve 
to  drink  of  His  chalice.f  James  was  beheaded,  that  is,  suf- 
fered a  death  which  was  at  that  time  regarded  as  most  dis- 
graceful by  the  Jews,  and  which,  on  that  very  account,  was 
most  welcome  to  the  hatred  of  the  Jewish  leaders  and  people. 
This  King  Agrippa  perceived,  and  was  therefore  encouraged 
to  proceed  farther.  In  consequence,  Peter,  the  well-known 
leader  of  what  was  then  considered  as  a  sect,  was  arrested, 
and  detained  in  prison  with  the  utmost  care,  till  the  Paschal 
festivities,  already  begun,  should  be  over.  The  intention 
of  the  tyrant  was  himself  to  sentence  his  prisoner  to  death 
in  the  presence  of  the  countless  Jewish  multitudes  which 
had  gathered  in  Jerusalem  from  all  quarters  of  the  world  for 
the  Paschal  festival,  but  his  hope  was  frustrated  at  the  last 
moment.  The  very  night  which  was  to  precede  the  con- 
demnation  and   death    of  the  prince  of  the  apostles  was 

*Cfr.  JosEPHUs,  Antiq.  of  the  Jews,  book  XIX.,  chap.  vi.  sq.;  and  Schurbr,  divi- 
•ion  i..  vol.  ii.,  pp.  150-165. 
+  Cfr.  Matt.  xx.  22,  23. 


242  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

marked  by  his  miraculous  deliverance,  which  is  so  graphi- 
cally described  in  the  inspired  narrative.*  The  next 
morning  came,  and  as  it  was  impossible  to  find  Peter, 
who  had  prudently  betaken  himself  to  a  sure  hiding  place, 
the  mortification  and  rage  of  the  king  knew  no  limits  ;  the 
keepers  of  the  prison  were  tried  and  put  to  death,  and  the 
king  himself  withdrew  to  Caesarea.f  There  it  was,  that,  while 
delivering  a  solemn  discourse,  Agrippa  did  not  object  to  the 
blasphemous  exclamation  of  the  people :  "  It  is  the  voice 
of  a  god,  and  not  of  a  man  " ;  whereupon  he  felt  himself 
stricken  with  a  frightful  disease  which  soon  carried  him  to 
the  grave.  This  sudden  death  of  the  king  (a.d.  44)  seems 
to  have  brought  the  persecution  to  an  end.  J 

The  inspired  narrative  of  Agrippa's  death  found  in  the 
book  of  the  Acts  is  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  description 
of  the  same  fact  in  Josephus,§  for  while  the  main  incidents 
are  identical,  the  differences  are  not  greater  than  might  be 
anticipated  between  two  independent  narratives  of  the  same 
event. 

3.  Tradition  respecting  the  Departure  of  the 
Apostles  from  Jerusalem.  Among  the  various  traditions 
connected  with  the  early  times  of  the  Church,  there  is  one  to 
which  much  credence  has  been  given  by  several  ecclesiasti- 
cal writers.  This  tradition  is  recorded  by  Eusebius,  who 
tells  us  II  that  one  of  the  Christian  apologists  of  the  begin- 
ning of  the  third  century,  named  Apollonius,  mentions  "  as 
handed  down  by  the  elders,  that  Our  Saviour  commanded 
His  disciples  not  to  depart  from  Jerusalem  for  twelve  years." 
This  length  of  time  before  the  departure  of  the  apostles 
from  the  Holy  City  seems,  indeed,  required  by  the  manner 
in  which  the  book  of  the  Acts  describes  the  events  it  re- 

*  Acts  xii.  i-ii. 

t  Acts  xii.  12-19. 

%  Acts  xii.  20-24. 

§  Antiq.  of  the  Jews,  book  XIX.,  chap,  viii.,  §  a. 

g  Ecclesiastical  History,  book  V.,  chap,  xviii. 


APOSTOLIC    WORK    IN    PALESTINE.  243 

cords,  and  this  was  distinctly  realized  by  Cardinal  Baronius 
(1538-1607)  ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  reconcile  it  with  other 
traditions,  which  make  St.  Peter  go  to  Rome  before  42  a.d. 
and  preach  the  Gospel  to  several  Asiatic  provinces  before 
he  arrived  at  the  capital  of  the  Roman  empire.'^ 

♦Cfr.  TiLLBMONT,  M^moires,  vol.  i.,  art.  xxvii.,  xxviii.,  and  note  6,  sur  St.  Matthieu; 
see  also  Fouard,  St.  Peter,  chap,  xi.,  p.  190  sq. 


SYNOPSIS   OF  CHAPTER   XXII. 

St.  Paul's  Life  and  Work  before  his  First  Missionary 
Journey. 


His  Early 
Life: 


I.   Date  and    Place    of  Birth    (Tarsus 
city  "). 


no    mean 


2.  Parentage       i  Religious  and  secular  knowl- 

and  Home-j      edge. 
Training:    (  Tent-making. 

3.  Education  in  Jerusalem  :   Rabbinical  training 

under  Gamaliel. 

4.  St.  Paul's  Celibacy. 


IL 

His  Conver- 
.    sion: 


1.  Share    of    Paul    in   the    Martyrdom    of   St. 

Stephen. 

2.  Paul's  Commission  to  Damascus  (Acts  ix.  i,  3). 


3   The  Conversion  of  St.  (  Its  threefold  account. 
Paul:  (Acts.  ix.  3-19,  •< 
etc.)  (  The  vision  of  Christ. 


4.  Sojourn  in  Arabia  (Galat.  i.  15-17). 


IV, 

His  Work 

BEFORE  his 

First  Mis- 
sionary 
Journey: 


f  The  city  described. 
I.  In  Damascus :  J  E^p^J^^y   encountered    by   St. 
[  His  flight. 


■i 


Paul  and  Barnabas. 
2.  In  Jerusalem:  •{  Paul  and  the  apostles. 

Paul  and  the  Hellenists. 


3.  In  Tarsus  (Acts  ix.  30;  Galat.  i.  21  sq.). 

4.  InAntioch:  Successful  Preaching  of  Paul  and 

Barnabas.     The  Name  of  Christians. 

5.  In  Jerusalem  Again  :    Relief  to  the  Poor  of 

Judaea. 

244 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

ST.  Paul's  life  and  work  before  his  first  missignak-* 

JOURNEY. 

§  I.  Sf.  PauFs  Early  Life, 

I.  Date  and  Place  of  Birth.  Saul,  whose  first  hatred 
against  the  followers  of  Christ,  and  whose  subsequent  zeal 
for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel,  are  so  intimately  connected 
with  the  early  trials  and  triumphs  of  the  Church  in  Palestine, 
was  born  in  the  first  years  of  the  Christian  era.  Although 
this  is  only  an  approximate  date,  and  one  inferred  from  in- 
direct statements  of  Holy  Writ,*  yet,  owing  to  the  extensive 
information  we  possess  about  the  history  of  the  time,  it  is 
close  and  certain  enough  to  allow  us  a  distinct  insight  into 
the  features  of  the  period  and  the  circumstances  of  the 
world  at  the  beginning  of  St.  Paul's  life. 

The  place  of  his  birth  is  known  with  greater  accuracy, 
for  we  have  his  own  explicit  statement  that  he  was  "  born 
at  Tarsus  in  Cilicia."f  This  was,  as  St.  Paul  says,  "no 
mean  city."  J  It  had  already  given  birth  to  several  illustri- 
ous men,  and  had  been  made  by  Augustus  the  capital  of 
Cilicia,  one  of  the  most  important  Roman  provinces  in  the 
southeast  of  Asia  Minor.  It  was  situated  in  a  wide  and 
fertile  plain,  and  was,  in  the  time  of  St.  Paul,  a  large  com- 
mercial centre  which  communicated  on  the  south  with  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  by  the  navigable  river  Cydnus,  while 
on  the  north  it  was  connected  with  the  central  districts  of 
the  Asiatic  peninsula,  by  two  important  roads  which  passed 

•  Cfr.  Acts  vii.  57  ;  ix.  i,  x  ;  Philbmon  9.        t  Acts  xxii.  3.  X  Acts  xxi.  39. 

245 


246  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

through  the  defiles  of  the  Taurus  range.  It  was  a  free  city, 
possessed  a  Roman  stadium  and  gymnasium,  and  one  of  the 
three  great  universities  of  the  pagan  world,  ranking  next  to 
Athens  and  Alexandria  in  respect  of  literary  fame.  Unfor- 
tunately for  its  numerous  and  thriving  population,  Tarsus 
was  also  noted  for  its  moral  and  religious  corruption,  its 
tutelary  god  being  no  other  than  the  infamous  Sardanapalus, 
its  supposed  Assyrian  founder. 

2.  Parentage  and  Home  Training.  Like  all  the  large 
and  flourishing  cities  of  the  Roman  Empire,  the  capital  of 
Cilicia  counted  among  its  citizens  a  multitude  of  Jews,  who 
gloried  in  their  title  of  members  of  God's  chosen  people. 
To  these  dispersed  children  of  Israel  belonged  both  the 
father  and  the  mother  of  the  future  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles. 
His  father  claimed  descent  from  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  and, 
although  a  Roman  citizen,  was  a  strict  Pharisee,  who  faith- 
fully circumcised  his  child  on  the  eighth  day  and  trained 
him  early  in  the  customs  and  prejudices  of  the  Pharisaic 
party.  From  infancy  the  young  Saul — called  also  Paul,  a 
Latin  name  given  him  for  public  use  and  very  proper  in  a 
Roman  citizen — repeated  the  words  of  the  Sh*ma'*  and 
of  the  Hallel,  and  when  six  years  old  became  a  day-scholar 
at  the  school  of  some  Jewish  master.  From  a  few  quota- 
tions from  Greek  authors  which  are  found  in  his  later 
speeches  and  epistles,  some  have  inferred  that  Paul  received 
his  early  education  and  acquired  his  knowledge  of  Greek 
literature  in  the  flourishing  pagan  schools  of  Tarsus.  But 
this  is  highly  improbable,  for  his  father,  a  strict  Pharisee, 
would  not  have  allowed  it. 

In  conformity  with  the  custom  of  the  time  and  the  rec- 
ommendations of  the  Jewish  rabbis,  Saul  learned  a  trade. 
That  chosen  for  him  by  his  parents  was  naturally  connected 
with  the  circumstances  of  the  country  where  they  dwelt, 
viz.,  that  of  tent-making.f     The  term  denotes  the  art  of 

•Deuter.  vi.  4-9;  xi.  13-17;  Numb.  xv.  37-41.  t  Acts  xriii.  j. 


ST.    PAUL'S   LIFE    AND    WORK.  247 

making,  from  the  hair  of  the  Cilician  goats,  a  coarse  cloth 
used  in  preference  to  every  other  kind  for  tent  covers. 

3.  Education  in  Jerusalem.  It  was  apparently  when 
still  quite  a  youth  *  that  Paul  repaired  to  Jerusalem,  where 
his  sister  seems  to  have  been  settled,  f  and  where  he  could 
easily  follow  the  course  of  instruction  given  to  future 
rabbis;  for  he  perhaps  purposed  from  that  early  age  to  pur- 
sue their  avocation  in  life.  There  sacred  learning  had  ever 
been  imparted  by  great  masters,  and  at  this  particular  time 
none  taught  the  Law  of  Moses  and  the  traditions  of  the 
fathers  with  greater  success  than  Gamaliel,  a  Pharisee  of 
unquestioned  orthodoxy,  although  he  was  well  known  as  a 
student  of  Gentile  literature.  Under  this  great  teacher, 
Saul  became  intimately  acquainted  with  Holy  Writ  and  with 
the  interpretations  of  the  Jewish  schools,  as  is  evidenced  by 
his  frequent  and  characteristic  use  of  the  sacred  text  in  his 
various  epistles.  It  was  also  at  this  time,  and  not  unlikely 
at  the  school  of  Gamaliel,  that  he  acquired  some  knowledge 
of  the  Greek  language  and  literature.  But  while  his  mind 
thus  underwent  the  influence  of  the  great  Jewish  teacher,  his 
natural  character  was  in  no  way  affected  by  what  seems  to 
have  been  the  liberal  and  tolerant  spirit  of  Gamaliel.  J  Saul 
gradually  became  a  stern  and  impetuous  zealot  of  the  Mosaic 
Law,  and  it  is  likely  enough  that  after  having  finished  his 
studies  at  Jerusalem  and  returned  to  Tarsus,  he  soon  began 
some  extensive  missionary  journeys,  after  the  example  of  the 
Scribes  mentioned  by  St.  Matthew  (xxiii.  15). 

4.  St.  Paul's  Celibacy.  St.  Paul  was  all  the  more  free 
to  pursue  such  missionary  journeys  because  he  does  not 
seem  to  have  ever  been  married.  §  This  fact  has  indeed 
been  denied  by  many  Protestants  desirous  to  draw  there- 
from an  argument  against  sacerdotal  and  religious  celibacy. 
But  an  impartial  study  of  history  clearly  proves  that  outside 

*  Acts  xxvi.  4.  t  Acts  xxiii.  16. 

t  Cfr.  Acts  v.  34  «a.  §1  Cor.  vii.  7. 


248  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

two  or  three  early  ecclesiastical  writers,*  who  based  their 
view  on  a  wrong  interpretation  of  such  passages  as  Philip, 
iv.  3,  I  Cor.  vii.  8,  the  opinion  that  St.  Paul  ever  married 
has  no  ground  in  tradition.  As  to  the  reason  more  recently 
advanced,  that  he  must  have  married  because  he  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Sanhedrim,  it  can  easily  be  disposed  of.  It  is  only 
an  inference  from  a  passage  of  the  book  of  the  Acts  (xxvi. 
10),  which  may,  and  in  fact  must,  be  understood  differently 
because  of  the  little  likelihood  that  "a  Tarsian  Jew,  a  Hellen- 
ist by  birth  and  a  comparative  stranger  in  Jerusalem,  would 
be  admitted  into  the  august  body  of  the  Sanhedrim."  f 

§  2.  5/.  Paul's  Conversion  (31  or  32  a.d.). 

I.  Share  of  Paul  in  the  Martyrdom  of  St.  Stephen. 

When  Paul  returned  to  Jerusalem  the  disciples  of  Jesus  had 
greatly  multiplied,  and  Stephen,  the  first  and  foremost  of  the 
newly  ordained  deacons,  was  boldly  sustaining  a  series  of 
disputations  with  the  Hellenistic  Jews  of  different  syna- 
gogues, among  which  was  reckoned  that  "  of  them  of  Cilicia."  J 
In  this  synagogue  Saul  of  Tarsus  would  certainly  be  told 
the  words  of  the  holy  deacon — if  indeed  he  did  not  hear 
them  himself — which  could  be  construed  into  blasphemous 
expressions  against  Moses  and  against  God,  and  with  his 
burning  zeal  for  the  authority  of  the  one  and  for  the  glory 
of  the  other,  he  openly  rejoiced  at,  and  probably  shared  in, 
the  arrest  of  St.  Stephen.  Although  it  does  not  appear,  as 
some  authors  affirm,  that  Saul  was  one  of  the  judges  w4io 
sentenced  Stephen  to  death,  yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  he 
was  one  of  the  most  prominent  instigators  of  the  attack 
against  him,  and  that  he  heartily  consented  to  his  execution, 
for  we  read  in  the  book  of  the  Acts  that  "  the  witnesses 
laid  down  their  garments  at  the  feet  of  a  young  man,  whose 

*  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Origen,  Eusebius. 

t  Gloag,  Life  of  Paul,  p.  19.  X  Acts  vi.  9. 


ST.    PAUL  S    LIFE    AND    WORK.  249 

name  was  Saul,"  and  again,  that  "  Saul  was  consenting  to 
the  death  of  St.  Stephen."  * 

2.  Paul's  Commission  to  Damascus.  In  the  severe 
persecution  which  followed  St.  Stephen's  death,  the  fiery 
zeal  of  Saul  against  the  disciples  of  Christ  made  of  him  the 
very  best  instrument  which  the  Jewish  chief  priests  could 
desire.  Armed  with  their  authority  "  he  made  havoc  with  the 
Church,  entering  in  from  house  to  house,  and  dragging  away 
men  and  women,  committed  them  to  prison."  f  **  Often- 
times he  punished  the  believers  in  every  synagogue,  and 
compelled  them  to  blaspheme"  the  holy  name  of  Jesus.J 
It  was  in  the  midst  of  such  cruel  deeds,  perpetrated,  how- 
ever, with  the  most  sincere  desire  to  do  what  was  right, § 
that  Saul  heard  that  the  so-called  sect  he  hoped  utterly 
to  exterminate  had  actually  gained  a  footing  in  the  great 
city  of  Damascus,  some  135  miles  north  of  Jerusalem.  At 
this  news  his  rage  knew  no  bounds,  and  he  resolved  at  once 
to  leave  the  Holy  City,  where  many  others  could  continue 
the  persecution,  and  to  repair  to  a  place  where  there  was 
as  yet  no  one  to  carry  on  the  work  of  destruction.  He 
therefore  went  to  the  high  priest,  whose  authority  as  the 
head  of  the  Sanhedrim  would  certainly  be  recognized  by 
the  numerous  Jews  of  Damascus,  and  easily  got  letters 
empowering  him  "  to  bring  bound  to  Jerusalem  "  any  men 
or  women  belonging  to  what  he  considered  a  most  hateful 
sect.  II 

3.  Conversion  of  St.  Paul.  It  was  on  his  way  to  Da- 
mascus and  when  very  near  the  city — perhaps  on  the  spot 
now  occupied  by  ancient  Christian  tombs,  to  the  southeast  of 
Damascus — that  Saul  was  favored  with  that  wonderful  ap- 
parition of  Jesus,  which  transformed  him  from  the  deadliest 
enemy  of  Christ  into  His  most  fervent  disciple.  As  he  and 
his   companions   hastened   on,  suddenly  at  mid-day  there 

*  Acts  vii.  57  3,  59  3.  t  Acts  viii.  3.  t  Acts  xivi.  10,  11. 

§  Acts  xxvi.  9.  U  Acts  ix.  i,  2. 


250  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

shone  round  about  him  a  great  light  from  heaven,  and  Saul 
fell  to  the  earth  in  terror,  while  a  voice  sounded  in  his  ears: 
'*  Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  Me  ? "  Whereupon  fol- 
lowed the  well-known  dialogue  between  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
and  His  fear-stricken  persecutor,  which  convinced  Saul  of 
the  Messiahship  of  Jesus  and  of  his  own  mistaken  zeal  against 
the  followers  of  Christ.  Blinded  by  the  dazzling  light,*  he 
was  led  by  his  companions  into  Damascus,  where  "  he  was 
three  days  without  sight,  and  di^  neither  eat  nor  drink."  f 
Ananias,  a  disciple  who  lived  in  the  city,  was  informed  in  a 
vision  of  what  had  happened  to  Saul,  and  was  sent  to  restore 
his  sight  and  admit  him  by  baptism  into  the  Christian 
Church.t 

Of  this  wonderful  event  we  have  a  threefold  account  in 
the  book  of  the  Acts:  the  first  is  given  by  the  sacred  his- 
torian himself  ;  §  the  second  is  found  in  an  address  of  St. 
Paul  to  the  people  ;  ||  the  third  is  also  recorded  in  St.  Paul's 
words,  in  his  speech  before  King  Agrippa  11.^  A  careful 
comparison  of  this  threefold  account  discloses  differences, 
which  several  rationalists  have  magnified  and  made  out  to 
be  contradictions  impairing  the  very  substance  of  the  facts 
narrated.  But  unbiased  critics,  both  within  and  without 
the  Church,  while  admitting  important  differences  in  the 
line  of  additions,  omissions  or  even  discrepancies,  **  have 
clearly  shown  that  these  differences  cannot  be  supposed  to 
"  constitute  a  valid  argument  against  the  general  truth  of 
the  narrative."  ft 

Rationalists  have  also  done  their  utmost  to  do  away  with 
the  miraculous  element  which  is  clearly  implied  in  the 
sacred  narrative.  They  do  not,  indeed,  deny  that  Paul  be- 
lieved that  he  had  actually  seen  the  Lord,  but  they  suggest 

*  Acts  xxii.  ii.  t  Acts  ix.  9.  t  Acts  ix.  10-16. 

§  Acts  ix.  3-19.  0  Acts  xxii.  6-21.  T  Acts  xxvi.  ia-i8. 

**  Cfr.,  for  instance,  Acts  ix.  7,  with  Acts  xxii.  9,  and  xxvi.  14. 

tt  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  art.  Paul ;  see  also  T.  Lbwin,  Life  and  Epistles  of  St 
Paul,  vol.  i  ,  p.  49,  note  33 ;  Fouard,  St.  Peter,  p.  118,  footnote  a. 


ST.    PAUL'S    LIFE    AND    WORK.  251 

many  "  explanations  of  the  possible  ways  by  which  he  may 
have  mistaken  an  inward  impression  for  an  objective  fact."* 
Perhaps  the  least  fanciful  of  these  explanations  is  that  which 
represents  Saul  as  a  man  of  exalted  and  enthusiastic  tem- 
perament, who,  even  after  his  conversion,  was  in  the  habit 
of  seeing  visions  and  falling  into  trances,  and  who  conse- 
quently was  most  liable  to  confound  the  subjective  impres- 
sion for  the  objective  reality,  in  connection  with  the  first 
vision  which  befell  him  on  his  way  to  Damascus,  when  in  a 
state  of  approaching  frenzy.  His  excited  imagination,  we 
are  told,  created  the  image  of  Jesus,  and  made  him 
fancy  that  he  heard  His  voice  saying  :  "  Saul,  Saul,  why 
pcrsecutest  thou  Me?"  the  voice  which  he  heard  being 
nothing  but  the  echo  of  his  own  conscience,  which  on  the 
occasion  of  a  natural  phenomenon,  such  as  a  thunder-storm 
and  a  flash  of  lightning,  upbraided  him  with  all  his  past 
cruelty  towards  the  followers  of  Christ. 

The  best  refutation  of  this  supposed  explanation  will 
ever  be  the  simple  perusal  of  the  sources  of  information  re- 
garding the  apparition  of  Jesus  to  Saul,  for  such  a  perusal 
is  amply  sufficient  to  convince  any  unprejudiced  mind  that 
the  theory  in  question,  far  from  accounting  for,  really  dis- 
torts, the  best  ascertained  facts  of  the  case.f 

4.  Sojourn  in  Arabia-t  As  we  learn  from  his  Epistle 
to  the  Galatians,  St.  Paul  withdrew  from  Damascus  soon 
after  his  conversion.  He  went  to  Arabia,  whereby  is  meant, 
not  the  peninsula  of  Sinai,  but  rather  the  country  to  the 
east  of  the  Jordan  and  not  far  from  Damascus,  a  city  which, 
in  St.  Paul's  time,  bordered  on  Arabian  territory  and  was  un- 
der the  government  of  an  Arabian  king.  The  exact  length 
of  his  sojourn  is  unknown.  "  He  himself  tells  us  that  it  was 
not  until  three  years  after  his  conversion  that  he  went  up 

♦  IvBRACH,  St.  Paul,  His  Life  and  Times,  p.  21  sq. 

+  For  a  detailed  examination  of  the  theory,  see  C.  A.  Row,  Christian  Evidences,  4th 
edition,  p.  404  sq. 
X  Galat.  i.  15-17. 


252  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

to  Jerusalem  ;  *  and  the  probability  is  that  the  greater  part 
of  these  three  years  was  spent  in  Arabia,  "t  Nor  do  we 
know  for  sure  the  kind  of  occupation  to  which  he  devoted 
his  time,  although  it  is  most  likely  that  this  was  not  for  him 
a  period  of  missionary  activity,  but  rather  a  season  of  seclu- 
sion and  prayer,  during  which  the  risen  Saviour  favored 
his  new  and  fervent  disciple  with  further  light  concerning 
his  future  mission  and  the  deep  mysteries  of  faith  he  was 
soon  to  preach  to  the  world.  % 

§3.  St.  PauVs  Work  before  his  First  Missionary  Journey, 

I.  In  Damascus.  §  Few  cities  of  the  Roman  Empire 
had  a  finer  location  than  the  city  of  Damascus,  to  which 
St.  Paul  first  preached  the  Gospel  on  his  return  from  Arabia. 
Situated  at  the  base  of  the  Anti-Lebanon  range,  in  a  circu- 
lar plain  about  30  miles  in  diameter,  and  rendered  most 
fertile  by  the  waters  of  the  Barada  river,  which  runs  directly 
through  the  city,  Damascus  ever  was  a  great  centre  of  trade 
between  Assyria  and  the  East  generally,  and  Phenicia,  Pal- 
estine and  Egypt  on  the  west.  "  The  old  city — the  nucleus 
of  the  present  Damascus — is  oval  in  shape,  and  surrounded 
by  a  wall,  the  foundations  of  which  are  Roman,  if  not 
earlier,  and  the  upper  part  a  patch-work  of  all  subsequent 
ages.  Its  greater  diameter  is  marked  by  the  Straight 
Street,  which  is  an  English  mile  in  length.  At  its  east 
end  is  Bab  Shurkey,  *  the  East  Gate,'  a  fine  Roman 
portal,  having  a  central  and  two  side  arches.  The  central 
and  southern  arches  have  been  walled  up  for  more  than 
eight  centuries,  and  the  northern  now  forms  the  only  en- 
trance to  the  city.  ...  In  the  Roman  age,  and  down  to  the 
time  of  the  Mohammedan  conquest  (a.d.  634),  a  noble 
street  ran  in  a  straight  line  from  the  gate  westward  through 
the   city.     It  was   divided   by  Corinthian  colonnades  into 

*  Galat.  i.  18.  t  Gloag,  Life  of  Paul,  p.  a8. 

X  Ctr.  Galat.  i.  ii,  12  ;  see  also  Fouard,  St.  Peter,  p.  124.         §  Acts  ix.  19  i-as. 


ST.  Paul's  life  and  work.  253 

three  avenues,  opposite  to  the  three  portals.  A  modern 
street  runs  in  the  line  of  the  old  one,  but  it  is  narrow  and 
irregular.  Though  many  of  the  columns  remain,  they  are 
mostly  hidden  by  the  houses  and  the  shops."  * 

In  St.  Paul's  time  there  were  probably  no  less  than  50,000 
Jews  in  Damascus,  and  it  is  to  them  that  the  great  Apostle 
fearlessly  preached  Jesus  as  "  the  Son  of  God,"  and  "  the 
Christ."  It  is  easy  to  imagine  the  utter  amazement  of  his 
hearers  when  for  the  first  time  they  heard  such  declara- 
tions from  the  lips  of  one  who,  not  long  before,  "  had  come 
hither  for  that  intent  that  he  might  carry  bound  to  the 
chief  priests,  those  that  called  upon  the  name  of  Jesus." 
Next  they  argued  with  him,  but  they  were  clearly  and 
repeatedly  unable  to  withstand  the  powerful  affirmations  of 
Saul,  who  joined  to  a  rabbinical  learning  far  superior  to 
theirs,  the  strong  conviction  of  a  recent  eye-witness  of 
Christ's  glory.  As  time  went  on  and  simply  brought  the 
confusion  of  their  defeats  into  stronger  light,  they  resolved 
to  take  away  his  life.  Using  their  influence  with  the  gov- 
ernor of  Damascus,  under  Aretas  the  king,  they  obtained 
from  him  soldiers  whom  they  set  at  the  gates,  watching  day 
and  night  lest  Paul  should  escape.  But  their  rage  proved 
less  successful  than  the  devotion  of  the  disciples,  who,  dur- 
ing the  night,  let  him  down  the  wall  in  a  basket  through  a 
window  of  one  of  those  houses  which  in  Eastern  cities 
overhang  the  city  wallf 

2.  In  Jerusalem.]:  Driven  from  Damascus,  St.  Paul 
betook  himself  to  Jerusalem  in  order  "  to  see  Peter,"  the 
head  of  the  Church.  His  arrival  in  the  Holy  City  caused 
much  terror  to  the  faithful,  who  still  remembered  his  perse- 
cuting fury,  and  could  not  bring  themselves  to  believe  in 
the  sincerity  of  his  conversion.  One  of  them,  however, 
better  informed  about  the  events  of  the  last  three  years, 

*  J.  L.  Porter,  the  Giant  Cities  of  Bashan,  p.  349.     t  Cfr.  2  Cor.  li.  32,  33, 
X  Acts  ix.  16-30 ;  Galat.  i.  18-30. 


254  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

"took  him  and  brought  him  to  the  apostles,"  that  is,  to 
Peter  and  James,  as  we  learn  from  the  Epistle  to  the  Gala- 
tians.*  This  was  Barnabas,  whose  generosity  in  selling  his 
possessions  had  formerly  edified  the  faithful  of  Jerusalem, 
and  whose  influence  in  the  Church  contributed  now  largely 
to  remove  the  popular  prejudice  against  St.  Paul. 

We  have  no  means  of  knowing  what  took  place  in  this 
first  interview  between  Paul  and  the  apostles  Peter  and 
James.  From  both,  the  future  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles 
naturally  learned  much  about  the  person  of  Christ,  whom 
he  had  never  seen  in  the  flesh,  and  about  His  teachings  as 
they  were  then  understood  and  preached;  while  they  in 
turn  heard  with  joy  and  profit  from  the  mouth  of  this 
"  vessel  of  election  "  the  account  of  his  conversion  and  of 
all  that  had  followed  on  it.  Whether  the  great  question  of 
the  exact  relation  of  Christianity  to  the  Gentile  world  was 
one  of  the  topics  spoken  of  on  this  occasion,  does  not 
appear.  Of  course  it  had  not  yet  assumed  the  distinct 
importance  which  we  know  it  possessed  at  the  time  of  a 
later  visit  of  St.  Paul  to  Jerusalem;  f  yet  even  at  this  early 
stage  of  his  work  this  great  question  had  perhaps  already 
confronted  the  mind  of  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles, 
for  we  read  that  during  his  first  sojourn  in  the  Holy  City 
he  spoke  not  only  to  the  Jews,  but  also  to  the  Gentiles.J 

The  Jewish  synagogues  to  which  St.  Paul  had  access  in 
Jerusalem  were  naturally  those  of  the  Hellenistic  Jews,  his 
companions  in  race  and  birthplace,  and  in  them  the  former 
persecutor  of  the  followers  of  Christ  did  not  fear  to  pro- 
claim the  Messiahship  of  Jesus.  His  opponents  were  worsted 
by  his  arguments  in  Jerusalem,  as  they  had  been  in  DamaS' 
cus,  and  in  their  wrath  against  one  whom  they  considered 
a  dangerous  apostate,  "  they  sought  to  kill  him."  Where- 
upon  the  brethren,  most  anxious  to  preserve  the  life  of  one 

•  Galat.  i.  i8,  19.  t  Gatat.  li  I  sq.  t  Acts  Ix.  ag. 


ST.    PAUL  S   LIFE    AND    WORK.  255 

whose    testimony    to    Christ    was    of     such    importance, 
"  brought  Paul  to  Caesarea,  and  sent  him  away  to  Tarsus." 

Thus  ended  this  short  sojourn  of  St.  Paul  near  St.  Peter 
and  St.  James,  false  reports  of  which  were  later  circulated 
by  his  enemies,  and  which  compelled  him  to  conclude  his 
brief  account  of  it  to  the  Galatians  with  the  solemn  attesta- 
tion: "  Now  the  things  which  I  wrote  to  you  behold,  before 
God,  I  lie  not." 

3.  In  Tarsus.*  It  may  be  inferred  from  his  Epistle  to 
the  Galatians  that  in  repairing  to  his  native  city,  St.  Paul, 
sailing  from  Caesarea  of  Palestine,  stopped  at  Seleucia,  the 
port  of  Antioch,  and  there  went  on  by  land  to  Tarsus.  This 
gave  him  an  opportunity  to  preach  Christ  and  to  make  in 
those  parts  of  Syria  and  Cilicia  which  he  then  traversed, 
many  converts,  whom  he  revisited  later  on.  f 

This  was  the  first  time  that  St.  Paul  returned  to  his  native 
town  since  he  had  become  a  follower  of  Christ,  and  it  would 
be  interesting  for  us  to  know  the  impression  which  his 
arrival  and  prolonged  sojourn  produced  upon  his  family 
and  upon  his  fellow  countrymen.  It  has  been  surmised — 
and  indeed  not  without  probability — that  he  spent  his  time 
preaching  the  Gospel  and  preparing  in  various  ways,  nota- 
bly by  the  culture  of  Greek  language  and  philosophy,  for 
his  future  labors  among  the  Gentiles  ;  yet  it  must  be  con- 
fessed that  we  have  no  positive  evidence  to  that  effect.J 

4.  In  Antioch.  §  The  next  time  we  hear  explicitly  of 
St.  Paul's  work  before  his  first  great  missionary  journey  is 
in  connection  with  Barnabas,  whom  the  church  of  Jerusa- 
lem had  lately  deputed  to  Antioch,  and  who,  being  desirous 
to  secure  for  himself  effective  help  in  the  great  work  to  be 
accomplished  in  the  capital  of  Syria,  "  went  to  Tarsus  to 
seek  Saul;  whom,  when  he  had  found,  he  brought  to  Anti- 
och."    Barnabas  had  judged  rightly  in  selecting  St.  Paul  as 

*  Acts  ix.  30 ;  Galat.  i.  21  sq.  t  Cfr.  Acts  xv.  41. 

t  Cfr.  FouARD,^St.  Peter,  pp.  134,  135.  {  Acts  zi.  35  sq. 


256  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

his  co-worker  in  what  was  at  the  time  the  largest  as  well 
as  the  most  important  city  of  the  Roman  Empire,  after 
Rome  and  Alexandria.  The  population  of  Antioch  was  no 
less  mixed  than  that  of  Tarsus,  and  its  most  numerous  ele- 
ments, the  Syrians  and  the  Greeks,  while  hardly  less  culti- 
vated than  those  of  the  capital  of  Cilicia,  even  surpassed 
them  in  religious  and  moral  degradation.  Like  Tarsus, 
also,  Antioch  counted  many  and  influential  Jews  among  its 
inhabitants,  and  their  faithfulness  to  monotheism,  combined 
with  their  highly  moral  character,  had  made  many  prose- 
lytes to  Judaism  long  before  Christ's  religion  was  preached 
within  the  walls  of  the  Syrian  capital.  It  thus  appears  that 
the  commercial,  political,  religious  and  moral  condition  of 
Antioch  was  pretty  much,  although,  of  course,  on  a  larger 
scale,  of  the  same  character  as  that  of  Tarsus,  so  that  from 
his  very  arrival  in  the  great  metropolis  of  the  East,  St.  Paul 
was  able  to  realize  the  various  needs  and  aspirations  of  its 
citizens,  and  to  pursue  for  their  conversion  the  same  course 
of  action  which  he  had  already  employed  with  success  in 
his  own  native  city.  In  point  of  fact,  during  the  whole 
year  which  Paul  and  Barnabas  "  spent  there  in  the  church, 
they  taught  a  great  multitude." 

Thus  did  it  come  to  pass  that  the  faithful  of  Antioch, 
rapidly  increasing  in  numbers  chiefly  drawn  from  the  ranks 
of  the  Gentiles  and  clearly  distinguished  from  the  Jews  by 
their  non-reception  of  the  circumcision,  could  no  longer  be 
considered  either  by  the  civil  authorities  or  by  the  public 
at  large,  simply  as  one  of  the  many  sects  of  the  Jewish 
religion.  A  new  name  was  therefore  invented  to  designate 
a  party  so  important  in  the  Syrian  capital,  and  as  many 
other  names  given  to  the  political  or  religious  parties  of  the 
time  (such  as,  for  instance,  the  Csesariani,  the  Pompei- 
ani,  the  Herodiani,  etc.),  the  new  designation  was 
formed  by  adding  the  Latin  termination  *' anus  "  to  the 
name  which  the  believers  frequently  called  upon,  and  which 


ST.    PAUL'S   LIFE    AND    WORK.  257 

outsiders  naturally  considered  as  the  founder  or  author  of 
the  new  party,  "  so  that  at  Antioch  the  disciples  were  first 
named  Christians,"  (in  Latin  "  Christiani")- 

5.  In  Jerusalem  again.  While  Paul  and  Barnabas 
were  thus  busily  and  successfully  preaching  the  Gospel  in 
Syria,  "  there  came  prophets  from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch," 
that  is,  men  endowed  not  only  with  the  gift  of  foretelling 
the  future,  but  also  with  that  of  adapting  their  exhortations 
to  the  needs  of  their  hearers.*  Their  precise  object  in 
coming  to  so  distant  a  city — Antioch  is  some  300  miles  north 
of  Jerusalem — is  not  expressly  stated  in  the  sacred  narrative. 
It  may  be  supposed,  however,  that  the  constant  and  pressing 
needs  of  the  Christians  of  the  Holy  City  had  induced  them 
to  go  and  solicit  in  behalf  of  their  fellow-citizens  the  charity 
of  the  wealthy  believers  of  the  Syrian  capital,  who,  differently 
from  those  of  Jerusalem,  had  retained  the  ownership  of  their 
estates. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  one  of  these  prophets  foretold  to  the 
Antiochian  church  "  that  there  should  be  a  great  famine 
over  the  whole  world,  which  came  to  pass  under  Claudius." 
Moved  to  compassion  by  this  painful  intelligence,  the 
Christians  of  Antioch  contributed  generously  towards  the 
funds,  which  the  coming  famine  would  render  so  much  the 
more  necessary  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  of  Judaea,  and  the 
sums  thus  collected  were  entrusted  to  no  others  than 
"  Barnabas  and  Saul."t 

Thus  was  St.  Paul  brought  back  to  Jerusalem,  where  he 
remained,  together  with  Barnabas,  till  "  they  had  fulfilled 
their  ministry  "  ;  after  which,  bidding  farewell  to  the  much- 
tried  church  of  Judaea,  and  "  taking  with  them  John,  who 
was  surnamed  Mark,"  they  returned  to  Antioch. J 

*  Cfr.  I  Cor.  xiv.  3,  5.  t  Acts  xi.  27-30. 

t  Acts  xii.  25.    See  Ramsay,  Paul  the  Traveller,  pp.  52,  61. 


SYNOPSIS   OF   CHAPTER   XXIII. 

St.  Paul's  First  Missionary  Journey. 


I.  r  I.  The  Ordination  by  the  Church  of  Antioch. 

The  J  2.  Object  of  the  Mission  Entrusted  to  Paul  and 

Departure:     j  Barnabas. 

(Acts  xiii.  1-3).    [3.  John  (Mark)  accompanies  them. 


II. 

The  Journey: 

(Acts  xiii.  4; 

xiv.  25). 


I.  Cyprus: 


Physical,  political  and  relig- 
ious condition  of  the  island 
of  Cyprus. 

Apostolic  work  in  Salarais  and 
Paphos. 

Physical,  political  and  relig- 
ious condition  of  this  penin- 
sula. 


2.  Asia  Minor:  - 


Successful    r   A     *•       u      r  «•    'J- 

^..^o^k;„^       Antioch  of  Pisidia. 
preaching       ■. 

in,  and      J    <^on/^°^- 
return       1  ^lI'X^' 
through     [Derbe. 


3.  Duration  of  the  Journey. 


III. 

Events 
between 
First  and 

Second 
Missionary 
Journeys: 


In   Antioch  :    Important   Controversy   about 
the  Circumcision  of  the  Gentile  Converts. 

(The   discussions   before    and 
during  the  public  meeting. 
The  apostolic  decree  (how  far 
a  compromise  ?) 


In    Antioch  :    Paul's 
(Galat.  ii.  11-23). 
258 


Contest    with    Cephas 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

ST.  Paul's  first  missionary  journeYo 

§  I.    The  Departure,  * 

I.  The    Ordination  by  the  Church    of  Antioch. 

Upwards  of  ten  years  had  already  elapsed  since  St.  Paul's 
conversion,  and  during  all  that  time  he  had  been  faithful 
not  to  anticipate  the  moments  of  Divine  Providence,  and 
had  waited  patiently  for  the  day  when  his  special  calling  to 
preach  Christ  to  the  Gentile  world  \  should  receive  the 
solemn  sanction  of  the  Church.  At  length  that  day  came, 
and  brought  to  him,  together  with  the  long-desired  leave  to 
enter  upon  an  extensive  missionary  journey,  the  greater 
fulness  of  the  Holy  Spirit  needed  to  discharge  successfully 
the  duties  of  the  apostolate.  \ 

Of  this  memorable  day  in  the  history  of  Gentile  Christianity 
only  a  few  details  have  come  down  to  us  in  the  book  of  the 
Acts.  We  are  simply  told  that,  some  time  after  the  return 
of  Barnabas  and  Saul  to  Antioch,  the  heads  of  the  Christian 
Church  in  that  city,  officiating  on  a  solemn  occasion  with 
which  fasting  was  connected — a  fact  which  has  led  some 
authors  to  think  of  the  prolonged  fast  observed  by  the  Jews 
as  preparatory  for  the  feast  of  Tabernacles — heard  the  voice 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  :  "  Separate  me  Saul  and  Barnabas,  for 
the  work  whereunto  I  have  taken  them."  Accordingly, 
"  they  having  fasted  and  prayed,  imposed  their  hands  upon 
Saul  and  Barnabas  and  sent  them  away." 

*  Acts  xiii.  \-%.  t  Cfr.  Acts  ix.  15  ;  xxii.  17-ai,  etc.  X  Cix.  Acts  xiu.  4. 

359 


26o  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY, 

2.  Object  of  the  Mission  Entrusted  to  Paul  and 
Barnabas.  The  sacred  narrative  does  not  state  explicitly 
whether  the  "  prophets  and  doctors  "  at  the  head  of  the 
Antiochian  church  were  apprised  of  the  exact  kind  of 
work  to  be  accomplished  by  those  upon  whom  they  had  to 
impose  hands  and  confer  the  apostolic  powers.*  The 
expression  **  they  sent  Barnabas  and  Paul  away  "  implies, 
however,  that  they  thought  them  called  to  undertake  some 
missionary  journey  to  countries  far  from  the  confines  of 
Palestine,  as  we  see  undertaken  at  once  by  the  two  new 
apostles.  There  is  also  hardly  any  doubt — though  this  is 
not  suggested  by  any  expression  of  the  sacred  text — that 
they  conceived  of  the  future  communities  to  be  organized 
by  Paul  and  Barnabas,  as  so  many  copies  of  the  Antiochian 
church,  that  is,  as  made  up  of  all  those  who  would  embrace 
the  Christian  faith,  irrespective  of  their  Jewish  or  Gentile 
origin.  It  seems  therefore  very  probable  that  the  object  of 
the  mission  entrusted  to  Paul  and  Barnabas  was  from  the 
start  to  bring  about  the  conversion  of  both  Jews  and  Gen- 
tiles, although,  as  we  shall  soon  have  occasion  to  notice, 
the  two  missionaries  preached  first  to  the  Hellenists,  because 
the  Jewish  synagogues  established  through  the  various  dis- 
tricts of  the  Roman  Empire  were  places  into  which  they 
were  free  to  penetrate,  and  in  which  they  knew  they  would 
be  invited  as  strangers  to  address  an  exhortation  to  the 
assembled  brethren. 

3.  John  (Mark)  accompanies  Barnabas  and  Saul. 
The  only  companion  spoken  of  in  connection  with  the  de- 
parture of  the  two  apostles  was  a  certain  John,  surnamed 
Mark,  and  a  cousin  of  Barnabas.f  On  their  return  from  the 
Holy  City  they  had  taken  him  to  Antioch,  and  now  he 
probably  volunteered  to  follow  them,  with  the  hope,  no  doubt, 
to  be  helpful  in  their  missionary  labors,  but  also,  not  unlikely, 
with  the  desire  to  visit  the  island  of  Cyprus,  to  which  they 

•  Cfr.  Acts  xiv.  13.  t  Coios.  ir.  lo. 


ST.  Paul's  first  missionary  journey.  261 

first  directed  their  course,  and  which  was  the  home  of  Bar- 
nabas, and  consequently  also  of  several  relations  of  Mark. 
In  point  of  fact,  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  departure  of 
the  apostles  from  Cyprus  to  evangelize  other  countries  was 
speedily  followed  by  Mark's  return  to  Jerusalem.* 

As  to  the  kind  of  services  John-Mark  rendered  to  Paul 
and  Barnabas  while  he  was  with  them,  we  have  no  positive 
information.  It  has  been  surmised,  however,  with  a  fair 
amount  of  probability,  that  as  they  would  be  very  busy 
preaching  the  Gospel,  he  would  be  useful  to  them  in  bap- 
tizing their  numerous  converts,  f 

§  2.    The  yourney.  \ 

I.  Cyprus.  Leaving  Antioch,  Paul  and  Barnabas  went 
to  Seleucia,  some  16  miles  distant,  and  from  this  fine  harbor 
of  the  Syrian  capital  they  soon  set  sail  for  the  island  of 
Cyprus,  about  100  miles  to  the  southwest.  This  island,  the 
third  largest  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  was  still  at  the  time 
one  of  the  famous  spots  in  the  world  for  the  beauty  of  its 
forests,  the  fertility  of  its  plains,  and  especially  the  import- 
ance of  its  copper  mines.  Although  deprived  of  natural 
ports,  it  had  long  been  a  flourishing  and  populous  island, 
and  in  the  apostolical  age  it  numbered  several  important 
towns,  two  of  which,  Salamina  and  Paphos,  are  named 
in  the  sacred  narrative. § 

Cyprus,  like  all  the  islands  of  the  Mediterranean,  enjoyed 
no  longer  its  autonomy,  and  for  well-nigh  a  century  had 
been  subjected  to  Roman  rule.  It  was  only  of  late,  how- 
ever, that,  ceasing  to  be  an  imperial  province,  that  is,  one 
depending  directly  on  the  emperor,  it  had  become  a  sena- 
torial province,  whereby  was  meant  one  whose  rule  was 
directly  in  the  hands  of  the  Roman  senate,  and  whose 
affairs  were  administered  by  a  magistrate  bearing  the  title  o^ 

*  Acts  xiii.  13.  t  Cfr.  i  Cor.  i.  14,  17. 

X  Acts  xiii.  4 ;  xiv.  25.  §  Acts  xiii.  5,  6. 


262  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

proconsul,  as  is  accurately  stated  in  the  book  of  the  Acts 
(xiii.  7). 

Nor  is  the  sacred  narrative  less  accurate  when,  speaking 
of  several  Jewish  synagogues  in  the  single  city  of  Salamina, 
it  gives  us  to  understand  that  Cyprus  counted  a  large  num- 
ber of  Jews  among  its  inhabitants,  for  it  is  well  known  from 
other  sources  that  the  children  of  Israel  had  gone  thither 
in  great  numbers,  attracted  chiefly  by  advantageous  leases 
of  the  copper  mines.  They  lived  side  by  side  and  apparently 
in  perfect  harmony  with  the  Greek  population,  a  fact  which 
did  not  prevent  them  from  remaining  faithful  to  the  strict 
monotheism  and  high  morality  of  their  ancestors.  Indeed, 
the  immoral  worship  of  Aphrodite  or  Venus  in  its  most 
degrading  form,  which  prevailed  throughout  the  island,  was 
doubtless  calculated  to  strengthen  their  attachment  to  the 
pure  worship  of  Jehovah. 

Paul  and  Barnabas  landed  in  Salamina,  the  eastern  port 
and  ancient  capital  of  Cyprus,  and  "  preached  the  word 
of  God  in  the  synagogues  of  the  Jews."  Thence,  going 
*'  through  the  whole  island,"  from  east  to  west,  preaching 
most  likely  in  the  various  towns  they  met  on  their  way, 
they  reached  Paphos,  at  the  southwestern  extremity  of 
Cyprus.  This  was  the  residence  of  the  Roman  proconsul, 
Sergius  Paulus,  a  man  of  noble  lineage  and  not  unlikely  to 
be  identified  with  the  personage  of  the  same  name  spoken 
of  in  Pliny,  and  with  the  "  proconsul  Paulus  "  mentioned  in 
a  Cypriote  inscription  recently  discovered.  The  preaching 
of  Paul  and  Barnabas  soon  came  to  the  notice  of  this 
"  prudent  man,"  who,  being  desirous  to  hear  them,  sent  for 
the  apostles  of  the  new  faith.  Near  him,  however,  was  a 
false  prophet,  whose  name  was  Bar-Jesu,  and  who,  feeling 
he  would  lose  much  of  his  own  influence  if  the  proconsul 
should  become  a  Christian,  did  everything  in  his  power  to 
"  turn  him  away  from  the  faith."  But  this  very  opposition 
of  the  false  prophet  became  the  occasion  of  a  striking  miracle, 


ST.    PAUL'S   FIRST    MISSIONARY   JOURNEY.  263 

which  St.  Paul  performed  in  presence  of  the  proconsul  and 
which  convinced  him  of  the  truth  of  Christianity. 

It  is  from  the  time  of  this  journey  to  Cyprus  that  the 
book  of  the  Acts  designates  Saul  under  the  name  of  Paul, 
which  naturally  enough  became  most  current  in  the  Chris- 
tian churches  which  were  founded  among  the  Gentiles.* 

2.  Asia  Minor.  We  are  not  told  how  long  Paul  and 
Barnabas  remained  in  Paphos  and  its  vicinity  after  the  con- 
version of  Sergius  Paulus,  and  before  setting  sail  for  the 
western  part  of  the  Asiatic  continent,  to  which,  since  the 
fifth  century  of  our  era,  the  name  of  Asia  Minor  is  very 
commonly  applied.  This  is  a  peninsula  washed  by  three 
seas — the  Black,  the  Archipelago  or  ^gean,  and  the  Medi- 
terranean, and  connected  on  the  east  with  Armenia  and  the 
rest  of  the  continent  by  a  tract  of  land,  which  presents  no 
natural  boundary  simply  because  Asia  Minor  is  nothing  but 
the  western  continuation  of  the  high  table-land  of  Armenia, 
with  its  border  mountain-ranges  to  the  north  and  to  the 
south.  Its  principal  chain  of  mountains  is  Mount  Taurus, 
some  points  of  which  reach  an  altitude  of  12,000  feet,  and 
its  best-known  rivers  are  the  Cydnus,  the  Maeander  and  the 
Halys.  The  total  area  of  the  peninsula  is  not  far  from 
300,000  square  miles,  or  a  little  more  than  four  times  the 
area  of  the  New  England  States. 

This  vast  extent  of  territory,  no  less  varied  in  its  produc- 
tions than  in  the  races  of  which  its  population  was  made  up, 
was  covered  with  "  numerous  communities  ruled  partly  by 
Roman  prefects  and  partly  by  petty  kings  and  potentates, 
feudatories  of  the  empire.  .  .  .  The  dominion  of  Rome 
over  these  parts  had  been  established  for  more  than  a 
century,  and  the  political  divisions  introduced  by  Rome, 
which  were  quite  independent  of  nationalities,  had  tended 
strongly  to  break  down  the  barriers  of  race  and  fuse  the 

♦  For  further  details  concerning  St.  Paul's  preaching  in  Cyprus,  see  Fouard,  St.  Paul 
and  his  Missions,  chap.  i. ;  Lewin,  i.,  chap.  viii. ;  Ramsay,  St.  Paul,  chap.  iv. 


264  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

heterogeneous  materials  into  one  consistent  mass.  But 
though  much  had  been  done  in  this  way,  the  distinctive 
features  of  the  discordant  peoples  were  still  in  the  main 
preserved.  .  .  , 

"  The  entire  peninsula  was  given  to  idolatry,  and  the 
several  component  states  varied  only  in  the  particular 
objects  of  worship.  The  prevalent  religion  appears  gener- 
ally to  have  come  from  the  East,  but  Greek  and  Roman 
influences  had  so  modified  the  primitive  systems,  that  in  the 
first  century  of  the  Christian  era  the  idolatry  in  vogue  was 
scarcely  distinguishable  from  that  of  Greece  and  Rome."* 

The  Jews,  however,  who  formed  a  considerable  element 
of  the  population,  were  a  noble  exception  to  that  general 
rule,  and  in  the  synagogues  they  had  erected  in  the  principal 
towns,  they  courageously  persevered  in  the  monotheistic 
worship  of  their  ancestors. 

Such,  then,  was  the  general  condition  of  Asia  Minor  when 
Paul  and  "  they  that  were  with  him  "  landed  in  Pamphylia, 
the  imperial  province,  on  the  west,  and  next  to  Cilicia,  the 
native  country  of  St.  Paul.  Although  the  Christian  mission- 
aries had  probably  intended  to  preach  at  once  in  the  towns 
on  the  seashore,  and  in  Perge,  the  capital  of  Pamphylia, 
which  was  also  built  in  the  lowlands  between  Mount  Taurus 
and  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  it  seems  clear  from  the  sacred 
narrative,  that,  for  reasons  left  unrecorded,  they  did  not  at 
this  time  announce  the  Gospel  there.  Perhaps,  as  some 
have  conjectured,  this  conduct  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  may 
be  ascribed  to  the  fact  that,  having  reached  the  alluvial 
plains  of  Pamphylia  in  the  early  summer,  that  is,  at  the  time 
when  the  inhabitants  of  those  parts  had  already  withdrawn 
to  the  mountains  to  escape  the  fevers  and  other  maladies 
usually  entailed  in  the  low  region  by  the  advent  of  the  hot 
season,  the  two  apostles  resolved  at  once  to  push  forward, 

'^  LswiN,  i.,  p.  131  sq. 


ST.    PAUL'S    FIRST    MISSIONARY    JOURNEY.  265 

and  preach  the  word  of  God  in  the  districts  north  of 
the  Taurus  range.  * 

It  was  through  most  insecure  roads  f  that  Paul  and 
Barnabas — now  deprived  of  the  help  of  John-Mark,  who 
had  left  them  at  Perge  to  return  to  Jerusalem — made  their 
way  northward  to  Antioch,  "  a  prominent  city  of  Phrygia, 
and  the  political  centre  of  the  southern  half  of  the  Roman 
province  of  Galatia."  J  Here,  as  in  every  important  city  of 
the  peninsula,  the  Jews  had  built  a  synagogue,  to  which  the 
two  apostles  soon  repaired  on  a  Sabbath  day,  and  in  which 
they  gladly  availed  themselves  of  the  invitation  extended  to 
them  to  address  the  assembled  brethren.  The  recorded 
discourse  of  St.  Paul  on  this  occasion  began,  like  that  of  St. 
Stephen,  with  an  historical  retrospect  which  led  up  to  Jesus 
as  the  descendant  of  David,  as  the  Saviour  promised  to  the 
Jewish  race,  and  whose  rejection  by  the  authorities  at 
Jerusalem,  and  resurrection  by  God  from  the  grave,  fulfilled 
old  prophecies  and  proved  Him  to  be  the  true  and  only 
Messias  in  whom  all  should  believe.  The  effect  produced 
by  these  words  was  very  great  :  the  apostles  were  invited  to 
come  and  preach  on  the  next  Sabbath,  and  many  of  their 
hearers — Jews  and  proselytes — were  actually  won  over  to 
the  faith.  § 

The  next  Sabbath  day  crowds  flocked  to  the  synagogue  to 
listen  to  the  Christian  preachers,  but  this  concourse  excited 
the  jealousy  of  the  Jewish  leaders,  who  began  to  argue 
against  St.  Paul,  and  who  next  uttered  blasphemies  against 
Jesus.  Whereupon  the  two  apostles,  seeing  that  further 
discussion  would  be  of  no  avail,  took  a  bold  stand,  and 
announced  publicly  that  henceforth  they  would  leave  the 
Jews  in  their  unbelief  and  preach  to  the  Gentiles.  This 
they  did,  and  with  such  success  that  the  Gospel  was  soon 
spread  throughout  the  whole  region.      It  is  easy  to  imagine 

*  Cfr.  FouARD,  St.  Paul  and  his  Missions,  chap.  ii. ;  Ramsay,  St.  Paul,  chap.  v. 

*  Cfr.  2  Cor.  xi.  26.     t  McGiffhrt.    §  Acts  xiii.  13-43  5  cfr-  McGiffkrt,  p.  186, 


266  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

the  rage  of  the  Jews  at  a  success  which  all  their  efforts  had 
not  been  able  to  prevent,  and  to  understand  how,  under  the 
pressure  of  their  influence,  the  public  authorities  drove  Paul 
and  Barnabas  "  out  of  their  coasts."  * 

Expelled  from  Antioch,  the  apostles  went  to  Iconium,  a 
city  some  50  miles  distant,  and  regarded  by  many  as  the 
capital  of  a  small  tetrarchy  under  the  suzerainty  of  Rome^ 
Here  also  great  success  attended  their  preaching,  but 
although  their  words  were  often  confirmed  by  *^  signs  and 
wonders,"  the  opposition  of  the  Jews  finally  succeeded  in 
rendering  their  life  so  insecure  that  they  fled  into  that  part 
of  Lycaonia  which  was  under  Roman  rule  and  comprised 
the  two  cities  of  Lystra  and  Derbe,  together  with  their  sur- 
rounding territory-!  The  ministry  of  the  apostles  in  this 
district  is  not  recorded  in  detail  (except,  however,  what  is 
connected  with  the  healing  of  a  man  crippled  from  his 
birth,  in  Lystra),  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  was  crowned 
with  success,  and,  in  point  of  fact,  we  are  told  that  Paul  and 
Barnabas  "  taught  many  "  in  Derbe.  % 

Having  thus  reached  the  very  borders  of  the  kingdom  of 
Antiochus,  which  limited  on  this  side  the  Roman  territory, 
the  apostles  retraced  their  steps  to  Antioch  of  Pisidia, 
through  the  cities  of  Lystra  and  Iconium.  They  profited  by 
their  return  through  these  communities,  to  strengthen  them 
in  the  faith  and  to  establish  them  on  a  permanent  basis,  by 
setting  over  them  men  having  grace  and  power  to  promote 
their  spiritual  welfare.  Leaving  Antioch,  Paul  and  Barnabas 
passed  through  Pisidia  and  came  into  Pamphylia,  in  the 
capital  of  which  they  now  preached  the  Gospel.  Finally 
they  went  to  Attalia,  the  most  frequented  seaport  of  the 
coast  of  Pamphylia,  and  thence  sailed  to  Antioch  of  Syria, 
"  whence  they  had  been  delivered  to  the  grace  of  God,  unto 
the  work  which  they  accomplished."  § 

*  Acts  xiii.  44-SO'  t  Cfr.  Ramsav,  St.  Paul,  p.  no  sq. 

t  Acts  xiii.  51 ;  xiv.  20.         §  Acts  xiv.  20-25. 


ST.    PAUL'S    FIRST    MISSIONARY    JOURNEY.  267 

3.  Duration  of  the  Journey.  It  is  impossible,  in  the 
present  day,  to  give  with  anything  like  certainty  the  dura- 
tion of  this,  St.  Paul's  first  missionary  journey,  for  Holy 
Writ  nowhere  states  explicitly  how  long  it  lasted,  and  at  no 
stage  of  it  supplies  sufficient  data  to  determine  accurately 
its  duration.  Combining,  however,  all  the  more  or  less 
indefinite  marks  of  time  which  we  notice  in  the  book  of  the 
Acts  as  having  a  bearing  on  the  point  in  question,  together 
with  the  approximate  extent  of  territory  travelled  over  by 
the  two  apostles,  it  does  not  seem  improbable  that  this 
journey  covered  a  period  of  about  two  or  three  years,  and  is 
to  be  placed  between  44  and  46  a.  d.  * 

§  3.  Events  between  First  and  Second  Missionary  Journeys. 

I.  In  Antioch.  \  Soon  after  their  return  to  the  capital 
of  Syria,  Paul  and  Barnabas  assembled  the  Church,  and 
related  joyfully  "  how  great  things  God  had  done  with  them, 
and  how  He  had  opened  the  door  of  faith  to  the  Gentiles.'* 
This  was,  of  course,  most  gratifying  news  for  the  faithful 
of  Antioch  ;  and  they  all  rejoiced  heartily  that  the  mission 
entrusted  to  the  two  apostles  had  brought  about  the  estab- 
lishment of  several  churches  after  the  model  of  the  Antioch- 
ian  church,  that  is,  of  Christian  communities  in  which,  on 
the  one  hand,  the  Gentile  converts  were  not  bound  to 
receive  circumcision,  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  Jewish  con- 
verts were  allowed  free  intercourse  with  their  uncircumcised 
brethren. 

Unfortunately,  this  most  legitimate  joy  of  the  church  of 
Antioch  was  not  of  long  duration.  The  news  of  the  return 
of  the  two  missionaries  and  of  their  great  success  among  the 
Gentiles  had  speedily  reached  Jerusalem,  and  had  aroused 
there  the  greatest  opposition  to  the  teaching  of  Paul  and 
Barnabas,  who,  it  was  understood,  did  not  require  of  theil 
Gentile   converts   that  they  should  submit  to  the  Mosaic 

*  Cfr.  Lbwin,  i.,  p.  156,  footnote  z,  t  Acts  xiv.  26;  zv.  2. 


268  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

rite  of  circumcision  and  to  all  that  it  implied.  The  more 
extensive  the  success  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  was  reported  to 
have  been,  the  more  strongly  also  was  it  felt  by  many  Jewish 
Christians  persuaded  of  the  ever-binding  character  of  the 
ritual  Law  of  Moses,  that  it  was  necessary  to  combat  with- 
out delay  a  doctrine  which,  in  not  imposing  the  rite  of 
circumcision,  set  aside  a  mark  which  Holy  Writ  plainly 
described  as  absolutely  required  to  become  a  member  of 
God's  chosen  people,  which  Christ  Himself  had  borne 
in  His  flesh,  and  which  the  apostles  who  had  lived  with 
Jesus  had  hitherto  imposed.  In  consequence,  some  of  these 
Jewish  Christians  started  for  Antioch,  and  apparently  also 
for  the  churches  of  Galatia,  and  proclaimed  loudly  to  the 
Gentile  converts  :  "  Except  you  be  circumcised  after  the 
manner  of  Moses,  you  cannot  be  saved." 

Great  indeed  was  the  excitement  caused  in  the  Anti- 
ochian  church  by  this  drastic  teaching,  and  Paul  and 
Barnabas  found  it  difficult  in  the  eyes  of  many  to  vindicate 
the  orthodoxy  of  their  doctrine,  since  it  was  in  direct 
opposition  to  the  positive  teaching  proclaimed  by  those 
who  came  from  Jerusalem,  the  cradle  and  headquarters  of 
Christianity.  Their  present  authority,  their  future  useful- 
ness, the  reality  of  the  divine  gifts  bestowed  upon  their 
uncircumcised  converts,*  the  utter  impossibility  of  winning 
the  nations  to  the  Christian  religion  if  the  despised  and 
hateful  yoke  of  the  circumcision  and  other  Mosaic  obser- 
vances was  to  be  put  upon  them,  etc.,  made  it  incumbent 
upon  Paul  and  Barnabas  to  meet  with  powerful  arguments 
the  bold  assertions  of  their  adversaries.  But  it  soon  be- 
came evident  that  the  matter  could  not  be  settled  in 
Antioch,  and  accordingly  it  was  decided  that  Paul  and 
Barnabas  "  and  certain  others  on  the  other  side  should  go 
up  to  Jerusalem  to  the  apostles  and  priests  about  this 
question." 

*  Cfr.  Galat.  iii.  a,  5,  etc. 


STc    PAUL'S   FIRST    MISSIONARY    JOURNEY.  269 

2.  The  Council  of  Jerusalem.*  It  must  have  been 
gratifying  for  the  defenders  of  Gentile  freedom  to  notice 
on  their  way  through  Phenicia  and  Samaria  the  great  joy 
with  which  the  news  of  the  conversion  of  the  nations  was 
received  from  their  mouth  "by  all  the  brethren."  More 
gratifying  still  was  it  for  them,  when,  reaching  Jerusalem, 
they  were  welcomed  **  by  the  Church  and  by  the  apostles 
and  ancients,"  and  witnessed  the  favorable  impression 
which  their  declarations  of  "how  great  things  God  had 
done  with  them  "  produced  at  once  upon  the  bulk  of  the 
assembled    Christians.      Their    joy,    howeyer,   was    mucjx 

tempered  by  the  emphatic  protests__QjLrepr.esentatives.,i3f . 

the  Jewish  Christian  party^who  soon  openly  declared  that 
TTie'TJen tiles  ^^Jrmst  be  circumcised^^iid_be^  commanded  to 
observe  the  Law^ Moses." f 

Then  it  was  most  likelyTITat  the  private  interview  of  St. 
Paul  with  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  of  Jerusalem,  viz., 
Peter,  James  and  John,  took  place,  during  which  he  exposed 
in  detail  his  views,  and  obtained  their  explicit  approval  of 
his  doctrine.  It  seems,  however,  that,  as  he  was  accom- 
panied by  Titus,  an  uncircumcised  convert  whom  he  had 
taken  with  him  to  Jerusalem,  he  was  asked  with  a  view  to 

allay  more  easily  the  opposition,  ^  have.-Taiii&-cire4tnTrT^?r<4; " 

but  to   thjsJPaul_and:_JBaTna.^^  

objected,  for  their  yielding  on  this  point  would  have_Qf 

course  been  construed  Into  a  condemnation  olJheir  owi 
positTbn.t 

In  the  public  meeting  held  soon  afterwards  there  was  at 
first  much  disputation;  but  the  discourse  of  St.  Peter,  who 
powerfully  argued  against  putting  an  unnecessary  and  un- 
bearable yoke  upon  the  necks  of  the  Gentile  converts, 
silenced  the  opposition  and  settled  the  main  question. 
Then  followed  a  recital  by  Paul  and  Barnabas  of  the 
*'  great  signs  and  wonders  which  God  had  wrought  among 

*  45  or  46  A  JX  t  Acts  xv.  3-5.  %  Galat.  ii.  1-5. 


270 


OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY, 


^f. 


the  Gentiles  by  them,"  and  which  were  so  many  striking 
proofs  of  God's  approval  of  their  own  doctrine  and  conduct. 
But  what  completed  the  defeat  of  St.  Paul's  adversaries 
was  the  address  of  St.  James,  who,  as  the  brother  pf  %];\e.    „ 

Lord    and    a  strict  Jew^    wielded    much    power   over   the^ 

"Jewish  Christians  of  the  Holy  City.,.  It  had  ever  been  the 
cfivin^^ur^sfe>  he  said,  that  the  Gentiles  should  be  intro-^ 
duced  into  the  ChurcTTTn  the  manner  in  which  this  had^ 
Deen  of  late  reyealecTto'lSamon  Petjr;  he  was  theref^f;  pf-- 
T^^mind  "  th^t^hej/;^  who  from  among  jhejGentileswerg_^ 
converted  to  God,  should  not  be  disquieted."     As,  howgi^^Xy^-^ 
Mosaic  refs,u\a,tiQjas.j[£iS^di£^;^-6ef^  h£&xi^ 

from  time  immemorial  read  publicly  in  the^vnagogues.  he— ^ 
j)ropi2aed_Uiat  a  letter  should  be  sent  to  Jhe  Gentiles_pre; 
scribini 


This  proposal  was  unanimously  accepted,  and  the  letter 
prepared  at  once  for  "the  brethren  of  the  Gentiles  that 
were  at  Antioch,  and  in  Syria  and  Cilicia."  After  a  clear 
disavowal  of  the  teachers  who  had  caused  all  the  trouble, 
and  an  explicit  approval  of  the  doctrine  and  conduct  of 
Paul  and  Barnabas,  it  was  laid  down  by  the  church  of  Jeru- 
salem that  those  to  whom  the  letter  was  addressed  "should 


abstain  from  things  sacrificed  to  idols^  and  froinblood^ ^r\<\ 
from  things  stranglelf7and"from^ fornication."  "No  farther^ 
burden  was_to  be  laid  upon  them,"  and  the  letter  was 
entrusted  to  Paul  and  Barnabas,  to  whom  Judas  and  Silas, 
two  men  of  the  greatest  authority  in  Jerusalem,  were  joined 
to  attest  by  word  of  mouth  the  genuineness  of  the  letter.f 

Such  was  that  important  decree  of  the  assembly  of 
Jerusalem.  Perhaps  it  appeared  to  many,  at  the  time  when 
it  was  framed,  a  compromise  between  St.  Paul  and  his 
opponents,  a  middle  course  between  setting  aside  altogether 
the  Mosaic  Law,  and  imposing  it  in  all  its  details.  In  real- 
ity it  was  a  full  vindication  jof  the  authority  and  doctrine 


*  Acts  xv.  6-ai. 


t  Acts  xv.  31-39. 


ST.    PAUL'S    FIRST    MISSIONARY    JOURNEY.  27 1 

of  St.  Paul,  and  the  actual  giving  up  of  the  whole  ritual  law 
of  Moses,  since  the  regulations  purely  Mosaic  contained  in 
the  decree  were  enjoined  only  upon  the  Christian  commu-| 
nities  nearest  to  Judaea.  * 

3.  In  Antioch.  PauFs  Contest  Great  indeed  was 
the  joy  of  the  faithful  of  Antioch  when  on  the  return  of  Paul 
and  Barnabas,  accompanied  by  Judas  and  Silas,  the  official 
deputies  of  the  church  of  Jerusalem,  they  heard  the  con- 
tents of  the  apostolic  decree,  and  learned  that  James,  Cephas 
(Peter)  and  John  had  approved  the  teaching  of  Paul  and 
Barnabas  without  restriction,  and  **  given  them  the  right 
hands  of  fellowship."! 

Peace  and  union  had  scarcely  been  restored  in  the 
Syrian  capital  when  an  event  occurred  which  threatened 
again  division  for  the  Antjochian  church.  On  a  visit  to 
Antioch  St.  Peter  had  first  freely  associated  with  uncircum- 
cised  converts,  but  he  withdrew  from  their  company  at  the 
news  that  some  Judaistic  teachers  had  come  down  from 
Jerusalem.  This  he  did,  as  we  learn  from  the  Epistle  to 
the  Galatians,  through  "fear  of  them  who  were  of  the 
circumcision,"  and  his  example  betrayed  into  a  similar 
**  dissimulation  "  not  only  the  Jewish  converts  of  Antioch, 
but  even  Barnabas  himself.  Whereupon  St.  Paul,  feeling 
it  was  necessary  to  stop  without  delay  what  might  easily 
become  the  cause  of  great  disturbance  in  the  church  of 
Antioch,  came  boldly  forward  and  rebuked  Peter  for  his 
inconsistency.  Owing  to  this  valiant  opposition  of  the 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  Peter  was  adduced  to  side  openly 
with  him  against  the  Judaistic  teachers,  and  to  proclaim  in 
action  that  which  he  fully  admitted  in  theory,  viz.,  that 
"  what  God  hath  cleansed,  no  one  should  call  common."  J 

♦  Cfr.  FouARD,  St.  Paul,  p.  75 ;  Ramsay,  St.  Paul,  p.  173. 
t  Acts  xv.  30  sq.;  Gai.at.  ii.  6  sq. 
t  Acts  x.  15,  a8 ;  Galat.  ii.  ii-ax. 


SYNOPSIS   OF   CHAPTER   XXIV. 

St.  Paul's  Second  Missionary  Journey. 

(Acts  XV.  36;  xviii.  22.) 


I. 

The 
Departure: 


I.  Purpose  of  Second  Missionary  Journey, 


2.  The  Com- 
panions of 
St.  Paul 


Neither  Barnabas,  nor  John 
(Mark),  but  Silas  first,  Timothy 
next,  and  Luke  last  of  air. 


II. 
The  Journey; 


I.  Visitation 
Churches 


,  (  In  Syria  and  Cilicia. 
°  -j  In    Southern    Galatia    (Derbe, 
Lystra,  Iconium). 


2.    Foundation 
of  Churches 


In  Northern 


Galatia  ? 


In  Macedo- 
nia: 


In  Achaia: 


!rn  J 


Two  theories. 
Which  more  pro- 
bable ? 

Philippi. 

Thessalonica. 

Berea. 


Athens. 
Corinth. 


III. 
The  Return 


(I.  B 

■^  2.  D 

•    (      Jo 


By  way  of  Ephesus,  Caesarea  and  Jerusalem. 
~  uration   of    St.    Paul's   Second   Missionary 
Journey. 

272 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

ST.  Paul's  second  missionary  journey. 

§  I.   The  Departure. 

I.  Purpose  of  Second  Missionary  Journey.  While 
peace  and  harmony  prevailed  in  Antioch,  and  the  efforts  of 
Judaistic  teachers  against  Gentile  freedom  were  fully  met 
there  by  St.  Paul's  unswerving  courage,  it  seems  probable 
that  his  adversaries  were  active  and  only  too  successful  in 
disturbing  and  influencing  the  minds  of  the  Christian  com- 
munities which  he  and  Barnabas  had  recently  founded  and 
organized  in  southern  Galatia.  To  counteract  this  perni- 
cious influence  he  first  wrote  to  them,  not  unlikely  from  the 
Syrian  capital,  the  epistle  which  is  addressed  *'  to  the  Gala- 
tians,"  from  the  name  of  the  Roman  province  in  which  lay 
these  various  communities.  To  vindicate  his  apostolic 
authority  he  narrated  to  them  all  that  had  come  to  pass 
of  late  in  Jerusalem  and  in  Antioch,  of  which  they  had 
as  yet  heard  nothing,  and  to  confirm  his  own  doctrine  he 
appealed  to  powerful  arguments  within  the  reach  of  their 
intelligence.  But  although  this  letter  should  have  been 
more  than  sufficient  to  restore  the  Galatians  to  right  views 
about  men  and  doctrines,  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  still 
feared  the  influence  of  the  Judaistic  teachers  who  resided 
in  the  midst  of  his  converts,  and  finally  resolved  to  visit 
them  in  person.  Antioch  was  at  the  time  well  supplied 
with  Christian  ministers,  so  that  his  presence  and  that  of 
Barnabas  could  be  easily  dispensed  with  in  the  Syrian 
capital;  he  therefore  said  to  Barnabas,  his  former  fellow- 

273 


274  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

worker  in  Galatia:  "  Let  us  return  and  visit  our  brethren  in 
all  the  cities  wherein  we  have  preached  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  to  see  how  they  do."  * 

2.  The  Companions  of  St.  Paul.  At  first  Barnabas 
accepted  joyfully  Paul's  proposal  to  start  together  on  a 
visitation  tour  through  the  countries  they  had  already 
evangelized;  yet  he  was  not  to  be  the  actual  companion  of 
the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  during  this,  his  second  mission- 
ary journey.  He  was  naturally  attached  to  John-Mark,  his 
near  relative,  and  now  expressed  the  wish  that  he  should 
accompany  them.  To  this  St.  Paul  objected  positively, 
unwilling  to  have  in  his  company  a  man  on  whose  services 
he  could  not  rely  implicitly;  hence  a  "dissension"  arose 
between  the  two  apostles,  which,  as  Barnabas  would  in 
no  way  part  with  Mark,  resulted  in  the  separation  of  the 
former  fellow-workers,  and  also  in  the  formation  of  two 
apostolic  bands  instead  of  one;  for  while  Barnabas  sailed 
for  Cyprus  with  Mark,  St.  Paul  started  by  land  through 
Syria  and  Cilicia,  with  Silas,  one  of  the  official  deputies  of 
the  church  of  Jerusalem,  who  had  become  much  attached 
to  him.f 

At  an  early  stage  of  this  second  missionary  journey  another 
man,  who  soon  became  the  dearest  and  surest  friend  of  the 
great  Apostle,  joined  Paul  and  Silas.  This  was  Timothy,  a 
young  Christian  of  Lystra,  whom  St.  Paul  willingly  accepted 
as  his  companion  because  of  the  high  esteem  in  which  he 
was  held  by  the  faithful  of  Lystra  and  Iconium,  and  who, 
"  as  a  son  with  a  father,  served  with  Paul  in  the  Gospel."  J 

The  third  and  last  companion  of  St.  Paul  to  be  men- 
tioned is  no  other  than  the  writer  of  the  book  of  the  Acts, 
who  through  modesty  does  not  give  his  own  name,  but 
simply  introduces  himself  as  one  of  the  missionary  band  by 

•  Acts  xv.  35,  36 ;  see  ilso  McGikpert,  pp.  226-230- 

t  Acts  xv.  37-4»' 

t  Acts  xvi.  i  sq.;  Phil.  ii.  20,  aa. 


ST.    PAUL'S   SECOND    MISSIONARY    JOURNEY.  275 

using  the  first  person  "  we  "  in  the  sacred  narrative,*  and 
whom  Christian  tradition  has  ever  considered  as  identical 
with  the  Luke  spoken  of  in  the  epistle  to  the  Colossians  \ 
in  these  affectionate  terms  :  "  Luke,  the  most  dear  physi- 
cian, saluteth  you."  He  seems  to  have  joined  Paul  and 
Silas  about  the  middle  of  this  missionary  journey,  at  Troas, 
and  to  have  accompanied  them  only  up  to  Philippic! 

§  2.   The  Journey,  § 

I.  Visitation  of  Churches.  Leaving  Antioch  to  visit 
the  Christian  communities  already  founded  in  Asia  Minor, 
Paul  and  Silas  passed  through  Syria  and  Cilicia,  carrying 
with  them  the  decree  drawn  up  by  the  Council  of  Jerusa- 
lem. As  the  genuineness  of  this  decree  was  put  beyond  all 
doubt  by  the  official  testimony  of  Silas,  and  as  its  tenor 
fully  justified  St.  Paul's  doctrine  regarding  the  admission  of 
Gentile  converts  into  the  Christian  Church,  it  is  easy  to 
imagine  the  powerful  effect  produced  by  the  presence  and 
words  of  the  great  Apostle  upon  the  minds  and  hearts  of 
the  faithful  of  those  regions.  The  baneful  influence  of  the 
Jewish  teachers,  who  had  probably  passed  there  some  time 
before  on  their  way  to  the  central  districts  of  Asia  Minor, 
was  more  than  counteracted  and  the  great  object  of  St. 
Paul's  visitation  fully  secured.] 

Encouraged  by  this  happy  beginning,  the  Apostle  hastened 
to  cross  the  Taurus  range,  through  the  defiles  known  as  the 
Cilician  Gates,  and  soon  arrived  at  Derbe  and  Lystra,  the 
two  cities  he  had  visited  last  on  his  first  missionary  journey, 
for  he  was  now  travelling  in  an  opposite  direction.  Thence 
he  went  to  Iconium  and  other  cities  of  southern  Galatia, 
making  known  to  them  the  apostolic  decree  enacted  at  Je- 

•  Acts  xvi.  10,  11,  etc.  t  Col.  iv.  14. 

X  Acts  xvi.  8-40.    Regarding  the  authorship  of  the  passages  which  contain  the  pro- 
noun "  we,"  see  Crelier,  Actes,  Preface,  p.  vii.;  McGiffbrt,  p.  »36  sq.,  etc. 
S  Acts  xv.  40;  xviii.  17.  il  Acts  xv.  40,  41. 


276  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

rusalem,  and  turning  it  into  account  to  vindicate  his  au= 
thority  and  effectively  confirm  the  churches  in  the  doctrine 
he  had  formerly  preached  to  them  The  promulgation  far 
and  wide  of  the  apostolic  decree  had  a  twofold  further  re- 
sult :  the  influence  of  the  Judaistic  teachers  was  destroyed 
forever,  and  next  the  conversion  of  numerous  Gentiles, 
hitherto  delayed  for  fear  of  the  hateful  yoke  of  the  circum- 
cision, was  actually  effected. 

It  was  also  in  this  district  that  St.  Paul,  fully  aware  of 
the  moral  worth  of  Timothy,  and  realizing  all  the  help  he 
might  derive  from  his  services,  resolved  to  take  him  along 
on  his  mission.  As,  however,  it  was  well  known  that  Tim- 
othy was  the  child  of  a  mixed  marriage  between  a  Gentile 
and  a  Jewess,  the  Apostle  thought  it  better  to  have  him 
circumcised,  in  order  not  to  arouse  the  ill  feeling  of  the 
Jewish  communities  he  might  have  an  opportunity  to 
address  in  Asia  Minor.* 

2.  Foundation  of  Churches.  Thus  supplied  with  a 
most  helpful  and  faithful  companion,  the  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles  started  for  the  foundation  of  churches  in  countries 
as  yet  unvisited,  and  here  we  meet  with  two  theories  as  to 
the  direction  which  St.  Paul  took  soon  after  leaving  the 
southern  part  of  the  Roman  province  of  Galatia,  whose  va- 
rious churches  he  had  just  confirmed  in  the  Christian  faith,  f 
According  to  the  older,  and,  indeed,  as  yet  the  more  com- 
mon, theory,  the  Christian  missionaries,  successively  pre- 
vented by  divine  guidance  from  preaching  in  Asia  and 
Bithynia,  the  two  Roman  provinces  adjacent  to  the  province 
of  Galatia,  went  from  the  districts  of  southern  to  those  of 
northern  Galatia,  whose  inhabitants  they  converted  in  large 
numbers,  and  to  whom  St.  Paul  addressed  later  on  the  letter 
known  as  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians.  The  more  recent 
theory  holds,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  great  Apostle  did  not 

•  Acts  xvi.  1-5.    Cfr.  Rbnan,  St.  Paul,  p.  124  sq.  (Paris,  1883). 
t  Acts  xvi.  $. 


ST.    PAUL'S   SECOND    MISSIONARY    JOURNEY,  277 

go  to  the  northern  parts  of  the  province  of  Galatia  when 
prohibited  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  Asia  and  Bithynia,  but 
simply  passed  through  the  Phrygian  part  of  the  province 
of  Galatia  and  the  territory  of  proconsular  Asia  till  he 
reached  Troas,  on  the  western  coast  of  Asia  Minor,  so  that 
the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  would  have  been  written,  not 
for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  churches  founded  at  this  time  in 
northern  Galatia,  but  for  the  churches  of  southern  Galatia, 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  he  had  founded  at  the  time  of  his 
first  missionary  journey. 

Although  this  second  theory  is  not  free  from  all  difficul- 
ties, yet  it  seems  on  the  whole  much  the  more  probable, 
chiefly  because  many  things  noticeable  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Galatians  *  lead  us  to  believe  that  the  epistle  was  written 
some  time  before  St.  Paul's  departure  from  Antioch  for  his 
second  missionary  journey,  that  is,  at  a  time  when  he  had 
as  yet  evangelized  only  the  southern  regions  of  the  Roman 
province  of  Galatia.f 

However  this  may  be,  St.  Paul,  as  bidden  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  traversed  proconsular  Asia  without  preaching  in  it  at 
this  time,  and  reached  the  town  of  Troas,  on  the  ^gean  Sea, 
about  4  miles  from  ancient  Troy  and  6  miles  south  of  the 
entrance  to  the  Hellespont  (the  modern  Dardanelles).  Here 
he  was  joined  by  Luke,  and  while  still  uncertain  as  to  the 
place  to  which  he  should  now  proceed  beheld  at  night,  **  in 
a  vision,"  a  Macedonian  supplicating  him  to  cross  to  Europe 
and  preach  the  Gospel  in  Macedonia.  Considering  this  as 
a  divine  summons,  the  Apostle  and  his  companions  sailed 
without  delay  from  Troas  "  and  pursued  the  usual  track 
towards  Macedonia.  As  they  had  a  fair  wind,  they  voyaged 
the  same  day  as  far  as  Samothrace  (still  called  Samothraki), 

*  Cfr.,  for  instance,  the  account  given  therein  of  the  events  connected  with  the  Council 
ii  Jerusalem. 

t  Cfr.  FouARD,  St.  Paul,  p.  44,  footnote  4  ;  Ramsay,  The  Church  in  the  Roman 
Empire,  p.  74  sq.,  and  St.  Paul  the  Traveller,  p.  194  sq.;  J.  B.  Lightfoot,  Comm.  on 
Galatians. 


278  OUTLINES    OF    NEW   TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

an  island  some  8  miles  long  and  6  miles  broad,  lying  half- 
way between  Troas  and  the  Macedonian  harbor.  The  next 
day  they  sailed  to  Neapolis,"  *  a  town  in  Thrace,  and  from 
that  port  journeyed  overland  to  Philippi,  some  8  miles  dis- 
tant. In  this  important  city,  a  Roman  colony — whether  the 
actual  capital  of  the  first  division  of  Macedonia  at  this  time 
does  not  appear — the  Jews  were  but  an  inconsiderable  ele- 
ment of  the  population,  which  was  made  up  mostly  of  Greek 
natives  and  Latin  colonists,  so  that  there  was  apparently  no 
Jewish  synagogue  in  Philippi,  but  only  a  Proseucha  or 
place  of  prayer  by  the  river-bank  without  the  walls.  Con- 
formably to  his  custom  of  addressing  himself  first  to  the 
Jews,  St.  Paul  went  on  the  Sabbath  day  to  their  place  of 
meeting  and  preached  the  Gospel  there.  The  result  was 
the  conversion  of  Lydia,  "  a  seller  of  purple,  of  the  city  of 
Thyatira,"  and  a  person  of  influence  and  position.  For  sev- 
eral weeks  the  Apostle  and  his  companions  pursued  their 
missionary  work,  and  apparently  with  considerable  success,f 
until  he  was  imprisoned,  with  Silas,  for  having  expelled  "a 
pythonical  spirit "  from  a  certain  slave  girl,  thereby  caus- 
ing pecuniary  loss  to  her  masters,  who  had  hitherto  de- 
rived profit  from  her  vaticinations.  The  whole  narrative 
of  St.  Paul's  imprisonment  and  release  on  this  occasion  be- 
speaks the  Roman  character  of  the  city  organization,  a  fact 
which  explains  why  the  Apostle  demanded  of  the  magis- 
trates that  they  should  offer  him  and  Silas  a  public  apology 
for  having  scourged  two  Roman  citizens  "  uncondemned." 
It  may  also  be  noticed  here  that  several  features  and  details 
of  the  narrative  of  St.  Paul's  journey  to  and  sojourn  in 
Philippi  concur  in  suggesting  that  the  inspired  writer  had 
long  been  a  resident  in  that  city.J 

Paul  and  Silas,  parting  from  Luke  at  Philippi,  and  accom- 
panied   by  Timothy,    started  for  Thessalonica,  about   100 

*  Lbwin,  vol.  i.,  p.  199  sq.  t  Cfr.  Acts  xvi.  40. 

t  Cfr.  Acts  xvi.  6-40.  See  also  Ramsay,  St.  Paul,  pp.  aoi-sio. 


ST.    PAUL'S   SECOND   MISSIONARY    JOURNEY,  279 

miles  distant,  to  the  southwest.  On  their  way  they  passed 
though  the  towns  of  Amphipolis  and  Apollonia,  and  fi- 
nally reached  Thessalonica,  the  capital  of  Macedonia 
Secunda,  a  populous  city,  supplied  with  a  fine  harbor,  on 
the  ^gean  Sea,  and  governed  by  its  own  magistrates.  In 
this  large  and  flourishing  centre  of  commerce  the  Jews  had 
settled  in  great  numbers  and  erected  a  synagogue,  to  which 
St.  Paul  repaired  on  three  successive  Sabbaths,  and  in  which 
he  argued  with  his  hearers  that  Jesus  was  indeed  the  Mes- 
sias,  whose  life,  sufferings,  death,  and  resurrection  were  fore- 
told in  the  Scriptures.  His  efforts  were  crowned  with  such 
success  that  the  Jews,  filled  with  envy,  stirred  up  the  rabble 
and  set  the  city  in  an  uproar,  for  the  raising  of  which  they 
made  Paul  and  Silas  responsible  before  the  magistrates. 
They  also  accused  the  Christian  missionaries  of  treason 
against  Caesar,  for  they  represented  them  as  preaching  "  that 
there  is  another  king,  Jesus. "  The  calmness  and  firmness  of 
the  magistrates  appeased,  indeed,  the  popular  tumult  ;  yet, 
because  of  the  hatred  of  the  Jews,  the  faithful  of  the  city 
"  immediately  sent  away  Paul  and  Silas  by  night  into 
Berea."* 

In  point  of  fact  severe  trials  befell  the  Christians  of  Thes- 
salonica soon  after  the  departure  of  the  Apostle — so  much  so 
that  they  longed  for  Christ's  second  coming,  and,  as  they 
imagined  that  it  was  near  at  hand,  many  among  them  be- 
came addicted  to  idleness,  while  others,  seeing  persons 
most  dear  to  them  dying  before  Christ's  actual  return,  gave 
way  to  immoderate  grief.  This  we  learn  from  the  epistles 
which,  only  a  few  months  after  he  had  left  them,  St.  Paul 
felt  it  necessary  to  write  for  their  consolation  and  instruc- 
tion. In  these  same  epistles  to  the  Thessalonians  we  find 
also  a  few  details  which  complete  the  narrative  of  the  book 
of  the  Acts  regarding  the  foundation  of  the  church  of 
Thessalonica.     We  learn,  for  instance,   that    the  Thessa- 

*  Acts  xvii.  i-io. 


28o  OUTLINES    OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

lonians  received  with  great  joy  the  Gospel  as  **  the  word  of 
God,"  that  the  report  of  their  conversion  "  from  idols  "  soon 
spread  throughout  Macedonia  and  Achaia,  and  finally  that 
St.  Paul  during  his  sojourn  in  their  midst  supported  him- 
self by  working  at  his  trade  of  a  tent-maker,  an  avocation 
he  could  all  the  more  easily  pursue  in  Thessalonica  because 
"  one  of  the  staple  manufactures  of  the  city  was  and  is 
goat's-hair  cloth."  * 

At  Berea,  "  a  secluded  town,"  as  it  is  called  by  Cicero,f 
the  Jews,  whom  St.  Paul  addressed  in  their  own  synagogue, 
listened  willingly  to  his  words,  and  applied  to  the  study  of 
Holy  Writ  to  ascertain  whether  the  arguments  drawn  from 
the  Old  Testament  records  were  conclusive.  Many  conver- 
sions both  of  Jews  and  Gentiles  ensued;  but,  unfortunately, 
the  bigoted  Jews  of  Thessalonica,  hearing  of  the  great  suc- 
cess of  the  Christian  missionaries  at  Berea,  hastened  thither, 
and  "  stirred  up  and  troubled  the  multitude."  So  great,  in 
fact,  was  the  fury  of  these  bigots  against  one  whom  they  con- 
sidered as  an  apostate  from  the  Law  of  Moses  that,  St. 
Paul's  life  being  positively  insecure  in  Berea,  the  Apostle 
had  to  depart  hurriedly,  while  Timothy  and  Silas  remained 
behind.J: 

It  was  with  feelings  of  deep  regret  for  leaving  his  work  so 
incomplete  in  Macedonia  that  St.  Paul  took  ship  for  Athens, 
the  first  large  city  of  the  province^of  Achaia.  He  knew 
that  God  had  called  him  to  evangelize  Macedonia,  and,  hop- 
ing that  the  obstacles  to  his  return  thither  should  soon  be 
removed  by  God's  providence,  he  longed  for  the  moment 
when  Silas  and  Timothy  should  bring  him  from  Berea  the 
welcome  news  that  it  was  safe  for  him  to  go  back  and  visit 
the  Macedonian  churches. § 

Athens,  the  ancient  capital  of  Attica,  in  which  the  Apos- 
tle was  now  waiting,  had  at  this  time  lost  much  of  its  polit- 

•  DoDS,  Introd.  to  New  Testament,  p.  153.  t  In  Pisonem,  36. 

t  Acts  xvii.  10-14.  §  Cfr.  i  Thbss.  ii.  17 ;  iU.  6. 


STo    PAUL'S    SECOND    MISSIONARY    JOURNEY.  281 

ical  importance  and  literary  prestige.  Yet  it  was  still  a  free 
city,  governed  by  three  distinct  assemblies,  to  wit  :  the 
Areopagus,  a  kind  of  senate  or  supreme  court ;  the  Boule, 
or  council  of  six  hundred  ;  and  the  People.  It  also  occu- 
pied a  prominent  place  in  the  world  of  letters  by  its  univer- 
sity, which  still  ranked  at  least  on  a  par  with  those  of 
Alexandria  and  Tarsus,  although  large  crowds  of  students 
frequented  it  less  for  literary  than  for  athletic  purposes. 
Indeed,  in  St.  Paul's  time  Athens  presented  to  the  eyes  of 
the  visitor  a  much  finer  appearance  than  in  bygone  days, 
when  its  Agora  or  **  Market,"  where  St.  Paul  disputed 
"  daily,"  had  not  yet  its  area  between  Xkv^four  hills  of  Athens 
(the  Areopagus,  or  Mars'  Hill,  and  the  Acropolis  on  the 
north,  the  Pynx  on  the  west,  and  the  Museum  on  the 
south),  crowded  with  the  finest  temples,  statues,  altars,  and 
public  buildings.  Of  course  it  may  well  be  supposed  that 
the  Apostle,  who  spoke  of  his  native  place  as  "no  mean 
city"  and  was  anxious  to  "see  Rome,"  was  not  indifferent 
to  the  sight  of  so  many  masterpieces  of  Grecian  art ;  one 
feeling,  however,  was  paramount  in  his  heart  :  that  of  in- 
dignant zeal  against  a  city  whose  countless  idols  proved  to 
evidence  that  it  was  "  wholly  given  to  idolatry." 

While  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  Silas  and  Timothy  St. 
Paul  lost  no  opportunity  to  address  the  Jews  and  proselytes 
to  Judaism  in  their  synagogue  meetings,  and  disputed  daily 
in  the  market-place  **  with  them  that  were  there."  His 
preaching  about  "  Jesus  and  the  resurrection  "  seemed  very 
strange  to  the  Epicurean  and  Stoic  teachers  of  Athens  who 
argued  with  him,  and  many  of  the  witnesses  of  these  dispu- 
tations, desirous  to  hear  more  about  "  certain  new  things  " 
they  had  caught  but  imperfectly  amid  the  noise  and  bustle 
of  the  Agora,  took  him  to  the  Areopagus,  and  thus  gave  him 
a  splendid  opportunity  to  expose  his  doctrine  before  the 
senate  and  people  of  the  city.  The  address  of  St.  Paul 
from  the  top  of  this  rocky  eminence  began  with  a  happy  al- 


282  OUTLINES    OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

lusion  to  one  of  the  many  altars  "  to  an  unknown  god  " 
which  then  existed  in  Athens.  This  unknown  God,  he  de- 
clared, was  no  other  than  the  One  whom  he  preached,  and 
whom  he  described  as  the  almighty  Father  of  the  human 
race,  and  now  desirous  to  bring  all  to  a  knowledge  of  Him- 
self. Then  he  exhorted  his  hearers  to  give  up  idol-worship 
and  prepare  by  penance  for  the  day  "  wherein  God  would 
judge  the  world  in  equity  by  the  Man  whom  He  hath  ap- 
pointed," for  of  this  He  had  given  pledge  and  assurance  to 
all  by  raising  Him  up  from  the  dead. 

The  general  line  of  thought  followed  by  the  Apostle  and 
recorded  in  the  book  of  the  Acts  was  such  as  to  keep  up 
the  interest  of  the  Athenians  ;  but  when  he  made  mention 
of  a  resurrection  some  burst  out  into  laughter,  while  others, 
apparently  mora  polite,  dismissed  him  with  the  words,  "  We 
will  hear  thee  again  concerning  this  matter."  Whereupon 
the  assembly  dispersed,  and  a  few  only  of  his  hearers 
(among  whom  were  Dionysius,  the  Areopagite,  and  a  woman 
named  Damaris)  embraced  the  faith.* 

A  day's  sail  brought  St.  Paul  from  Athens  to  Corinth,  a 
city  situated  on  the  isthmus  which  connects  the  Pelopon- 
nesus with  the  rest  of  Greece  and  separates  the  ^gean 
from  the  Ionian  Sea.  This  was  at  the  time  the  capital  of 
the  province  and  the  residence  of  the  Roman  proconsul  of 
Achaia.  No  other  Greek  city  could  compare  with  it  in 
commerce,  wealth,  refinement,  and  number  of  inhabitants  ; 
and  perhaps  no  city  in  the  world  could  compare  with  it  in  li- 
centiousness :  Venus  was  its  favorite  goddess,  and  sensuality 
had  taken  the  form  of  a  religious  rite.  Its  population, 
made  up  of  people  from  all  parts  of  the  empire,  comprised 
a  large  Jewish  element,  attracted  thither  by  commerce,  and 
swollen  at  this  particular  time  by  the  numerous  Jews  ex- 
pelled from  Rome  by  the  Emperor  Claudius.f  Among  these 
refugees  were  a  certain  Jew  named  Aquila,  born  in  Pontus, 

*  Acts  xvii.  16-34.  t  Suetonius,  Claudius,  25. 


STe    PAUL'S   SECOND    MISSIONARY    JOURNEYc  283 

and  Priscilla,  his  wife,  who  had  perhaps  already  embraced 
the  Christian  faith,  and  with  whom  St.  Paul  abode  and 
worked,  for  Aquila  was  also  a  tent-maker.*  As  the  Sabbaths 
came  around  they  naturally  all  repaired  to  the  Jewish  syna- 
gogue, and  St.  Paul,  availing  himself  of  his  great  rabbinical 
learning,  proved  to  his  hearers — Jews  and  Gentiles — that 
Jesus  was  indeed  the  Christ,  and  made  several  converts  to 
whom  he  refers  in  his  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  f  It 
was,  however,  only  after  the  arrival  of  Silas  and  Timothy, 
who  brought  to  him  the  generous  offerings  of  the  Macedo- 
nian churches,  that  the  Apostle,  freed  from  temporal  cares, 
powerfully  seconded  by  his  two  devoted  friends  and  greatly 
encouraged  by  a  divine  vision,  effected  a  large  number  of 
conversions.  Driven  from  the  synagogue,  he  preached  to 
all  comers  in  the  adjoining  house  of  a  proselyte  named 
Titus  Justus,  who,  with  Crispus,  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue, 
had  believed  in  Christ.  His  success  was  very  great,  chiefly 
with  the  lower  classes  of  the  Gentile  population,  and  this  so 
incensed  the  Jews  that  on  one  occasion,  the  exact  character 
of  which  is  not  recorded,  "  arising  with  one  accord,  they 
brought  him  to  the  judgment-seat "  of  the  proconsul  Gal- 
lio.  But  this  Roman  officer  had  hardly  heard  the  only  ac- 
cusation they  could  proffer  against  St.  Paul,  viz.:  "  This  man 
persuadeth  men  to  worship  God  contrary  to  the  Law,"  than 
he  contemptuously  refused  to  take  up  the  matter,  "  drove 
them  from  the  judgmei.t-seat,"  and  did  not  intervene  in  theii 
behalf  when  they  were  mobbed  by  the  multitude  outside. 

The  Apostle  was  therefore  allowed  free  scope  to  his  zeal, 
and  his  long  sojourn  of  one  year  and  a  half  at  Corinth  re- 
sulted not  only  in  the  foundation  of  a  large  and  flourishing 
community  in  the  capital  of  Achaia,  but  also  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  several  churches  within  that  province-J  It  was 
also  from  Corinth  that  St.  Paul  wrote  his  two  epistles  to  the 

•Acts  xviii.  1-3.  ■*  i  Cor.  i.  16;  xvi.  15. 

$  Acts  xviii.  4-18 ;  2  CoK.  i.  t ;  Rom.  xvi.  i,  16. 


284  OUTLINES    OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

Thessalonians,  to  encourage  and  instruct  them  in  their  pe- 
culiar and  trying  circumstances  already  referred  to.* 

It  is  difficult  in  the  present  day  to  point  out  the  reason 
of  the  Nazarite  vow  which  St.  Paul  made  before  leaving 
Corinth,  and  in  consequence  of  which  he  shaved  his  head 
in  Cenchra,  the  eastern  harbor  of  the  capital  of  Achaia,  from 
which  he  sailed  "  into  Syria."  f  Perhaps  he  wished  thereby 
to  give  public  witness  to  his  gratitude  for  his  recent  deliver- 
ance from  the  machinations  of  the  Jews  by  the  action  of 
the  Roman  proconsul 

§  3.   The  Return. 

I.  St.  Paul's  Return  by  Way  of  Ephesus,  Csesarea, 
and  Jerusalem.  The  return  from  his  second  missionary 
journey  was  rapidly  effected  by  St.  Paul,  who  was  anxious  to 
be  in  Jerusalem  for  a  festival,  not  otherwise  specified  in  the 
Greek  text  (it  is  not  even  referred  to  in  the  Vulgate),  but 
which  has  been  supposed  to  be  either  the  feast  of  the  Pass- 
over or  Pentecost,  and  which  may  have  been  connected  in 
some  unknown  manner  with  the  consummation  of  his  vow 
in  Corinth.J  Sailing  from  Cenchra  with  Silas  and  Tim- 
othy, Aquila  and  Priscilla,  he  landed  in  Ephesus  after  a 
voyage  of  about  thirteen  or  fourteen  days,  and  started 
from  it  as  soon  as  possible,  notwithstanding  the  invita- 
tion to  tarry  which  the  Jews  of  the  synagogue  of  that 
great  capital  of  proconsular  Asia  had  extended  to  him. 
He  therefore  simply  promised  soon  to  return  to  them 
"  God  willing,"  and,  leaving  behind  Aquila  and  Priscilla, 
sailed  for  Caesarea  of  Palestine,  from  which  he  went  up  to 
the  Holy  City,  saluted  the  church  of  Jerusalem,  and  after 
a  brief  stay  started  for  Antioch. 

Duration  of  St.  Paul's  Second  Missionary  Jour- 
ney.   With  St.  Paul's  return  to  Antioch  of  Syria  closed  one 

*  See  p.  279.  t  Acts  xviii.  18. 

JCfr.  Crelier,  Actes,  p.  224;  Plumptrb,  Acts,  pp.  jqj,  104. 


ST.    PAUL'S   SECOND   MISSIONARY   JOURNEY.  285 

of  the  most  important  missionary  journeys  of  the  great 
Apostle.  Besides  confirming  the  faith  of  the  churches  al- 
ready in  existence  in  Cilicia  and  southern  Galatia,  he  had, 
under  the  manifest  guidance  of  Providence,  crossed  over  to 
Europe  and  founded  many  important  Christian  communities 
in  Macedonia  and  Achaia.  It  is  generally  agreed  that  this 
second  journey  took  about  three  years,  eighteen  months 
of  which  were  spent  in  Corinth  :  it  extended  probably 
from  46  to  49  A.D.* 

•  See,  however,  Ramsay,  St.  Paul,  p.  254. 


SYNOPSIS   OF  CHAPTER   XXV. 

St    Paul's  Third  Missionary  Journey. 
Acts  xviii.  23  ;  xxi.  170) 


I. 

Early  Part 

OF  THE 

Journey; 


1.  The  Departure  :  Occasion  ;  Date  ;  St.  Paul's 

Companions, 

2.  Visitation  of  the  Galatian  Churches. 


II. 

Apostolic 

Work  in 

Proconsular 

Asia: 


I.  Political    and    Religious   Conditions   of  the 
Roman  Province  of  Asia. 


2.  In   Ephe- 
sus: 


The     city    and    its    worship     of 

Diana. 
St.  Paul's  successful  preaching. 
The  outbreak  of  the  silversmiths. 


^3.  The  Other  Churches  in  the  Province  of  Asia. 


III. 

St.  Paul's 
Work  in 
Europe: 


1.  Extensive  Missionary  Labors  in  Macedonia, 

2.  Sojourn  in  Corinth  (Its  Principal  Object). 


IV. 

The  Return 


Through  Philippi,  Troas  and  Miletus. 
The  Voyage  from  Miletus  to  Csesarea. 
3.  Arrival  at  Jerusalem. 
286 


CHAPTER  XXV. 
ST.  Paul's  third  missionary  journey. 

§  I.  Early  Part  of  the  Journey. 

I.  The  Departure.  It  has  been  recently  assumed  * 
that  during  his  sojourn  in  Antioch  at  this  time  St.  Paul  re- 
ceived rather  disquieting  news  about  the  churches  of  Gala- 
tia,  and  that  this  led  him,  first,  to  write  his  Epistle  to  the 
Galatians,  and,  next,  to  start  on  his  third  missionary  jour- 
ney. It  seems  more  probable,  however,  as  stated  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  that  this  painful  intelligence  had  reached 
the  Apostle  soon  after  the  Council  of  Jerusalem,  and  had 
then  been  followed  by  the  writing  of  the  epistle  to  the 
Galatians  and  by  St.  Paul's  departure  for  his  ^^r^«^  mission- 
ary tour.  Of  course  he  was  glad  when  starting  on  his  third 
mission  to  the  Gentiles  to  have  the  occasion  of  passing 
through  Galatia  and  of  confirming  in  the  faith  the  Chris- 
tian communities  of  that  province,  but  there  is  hardly  any 
doubt  that  his  chief  purpose  was  rather  to  fulfil  his  recent 
promise  to  the  Jews  of  the  synagogue  of  Ephesus  :  "  I  will 
return  to  you  again,  God  willing."  He  tarried  "  some  time," 
it  is  true,  in  the  Syrian  capital,  but  this  was  only  natural 
after  a  three  years'  absence  from  the  Antiochian  church,  so 
congenial  and  in  many  ways  so  dear  to  him,  and  a  careful 
reading  of  the  sacred  text  seems  to  point  to  Ephesus, 
where  he  actually  remained  upwards  of  two  years,f  as  the 
main  object  of  his  thoughts  at  this  time.  After  a  few  months, 
therefore,  or  even  perhaps  after  only  a  few  weeks,  of  stay 

♦  Ramsay,  St.  Paul,  p.  189  sq.  t  Cfr,  Acts  xx.  31. 

287 


288  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

in  Antioch  St.  Paul  started  for  proconsular  Asia,  of  which 
Ephesus  was  the  large  and  flourishing  capital. 

Among  the  companions  of  the  great  Apostle  on  this  third 
missionary  journey  we  do  not  find  Silas,  who  had  probably 
remained  in  Jerusalem  when  St.  Paul  returned  to  Antioch, 
and  whose  presence  near  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  was 
in  fact  no  longer  so  necessary  as  on  the  preceding  journey, 
when  he  could  bear  official  witness  to  the  personal  and  doc- 
trinal authority  of  one  whom  the  Judaistic  teachers  had 
slanderously  represented  as  claiming  a  power  which  he  did 
not  possess.  But  we  find  with  him  Timothy,  who  most  likely 
accompanied  his  beloved  master  from  the  beginning  of  the 
journey,  and  a  certain  Erastus,  a  Corinthian  Christian,  who 
had  been  with  St.  Paul  on  his  voyage  from  Achaia  to  Jeru- 
salem, and  who  appears  at  his  side  in  Ephesus.*  At  what 
exact  time  the  two  Macedonians  Gains  and  Aristarchus, 
whom  the  book  of  the  Acts  calls  St.  Paul's  "  companions," 
joined  him  cannot  be  defined  in  the  present  day  ;  and  the 
same  must  be  said  about  Titus,  a  faithful  disciple  who  has 
been  already  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  Council  of 
Jerusalem,  and  to  whom  the  Apostle  willingly  entrusted 
important  or  delicate  missions.f 

2.  Visitation  of  the  Galatian  Churches.  St.  Paul's 
third  missionary  journey  opened,  like  the  second,  with  a 
visitation  of  churches  already  founded.  The  exact  route 
is  not  indicated,  and  in  fact,  of  this  early  part  of  the  jour- 
ney, we  are  simply  told  that  "  he  went  through  the  region  of 
Galatia  and  Phrygia,  in  order,  confirming  all  the  disciples," 
whereby  we  are  given  to  understand  that  his  visit,  though 
rapid,  was  systematic  and  yielded  abundant  fruits.J 

While  St.  Paul  was  thus  making  all  haste  to  Ephesus  in 
fulfilment  of  his  promise,  a  certain  Jew  named  Apollo, 
a  native  of  Alexandria,  had  succeeded  him  as  a  teacher  in 
Ephesus,  and  by  his  eloquent  preaching  from  the  Scriptures, 

•  Acts  xix.  22.  t  Cfr.  2  Cor.  vii.  6  sq. ;  viii.  6  sq.  t  Acts  xviii.  23. 


ST.    PAUL'S    THIRD    MISSIONARY   JOURNEY.  280 

which  he  interpreted  in  favor  of  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus, 
was  powerfully  preparing  the  minds  of  the  Jews  of  that  city 
for  the  ministry  of  the  great  Apostle.  Docile  to  the  instruc- 
tions of  Priscilla  and  Aquila,  who  were  then  in  Ephesus,  this 
great  and  good  man,  who  had  hitherto  known  nothing  of  the 
Christian  Baptism  and  simply  given  to  those  who  believed 
his  words  the  baptism  of  John,  became  a  full-fledged  Chris- 
tian. He  seems  to  have  started  for  Corinth  before  all  those 
to  whom  he  had  administered  the  baptism  of  the  holy  pre- 
cursor had  received  the  Christian  Baptism,  and  we  see  from 
the  sacred  narrative  that  the  test  used  by  St.  Paul  after  his 
arrival  in  Ephesus  to  discern  between  the  two  classes  of 
believers  was  the  question,  **  Have  you  received  the  Holy 
Ghost  since  you  believed  ?  "  * 

§  2.  Apostolic  Work  in  Proconsular  Asia, 

I.  Political  and  Religious  Conditions  of  the 
Roman  Province  of  Asia.  The  western  part  of  Asia 
Minor,  the  highlands  of  which  St.  Paul  traversed  on  his  way 
to  Ephesus,  was  at  the  time  a  large  senatorial  province  which 
comprised  such  important  regions  as  Caria,  Lydia,  and 
Mysia,  together  with  a  considerable  part  of  Phrygia.  The 
chief  representative  of  the  Roman  senate  in  the  province 
was  a  personage  who  had  been  a  consul  at  Rome,  and  who, 
with  the  title  of  proconsul,  conferred  annually,  was  allowed 
to  display  all  the  ensigns  of  his  former  consular  office  and 
given  extensive  civil  and  military  powers.  The  officers  under 
the  proconsul  were  a  quaestor,  and  three  assessors  or  legates 
appointed  also  by  the  Roman  senate,  while  near  him  there 
was  a  powerful  procurator  directly  appointed  by  the  em- 
peror and  having  charge  of  the  financial  affairs  of  the  whole 
province. 

"  Subject  to    this    despotic  dominion  of  the    proconsul 

•  Acts  xviii,  24 ;  xix.  4. 


290  OUTLINES   OF    NEW   TESTAMENT    HISTORY, 

qualified  by  the  power  of  the  procurator,  the  province  gov- 
erned itself.  Matters  of  general  interest  were  debated  in 
Congress  (Sunedrion),  a  council  composed  of  representa- 
tives from  the  different  states  of  which  Asia  consisted,  and 
subordinate  to  this  collective  legislature  were  the  separate 
governments  of  the  cities  which  returned  members  to  Con- 
gress."  * 

For  judicial  purposes  the  province  was  divided  into  as- 
size districts,  of  which  the  proconsul  made  a  yearly  circuit, 
"  sitting  either  in  person,  with  the  assistance  of  a  jury,  or 
nominating  judges  to  act  as  his  deputies,"  f  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that  law  was  generally  administered  with  justice  and 
equity. 

Like  the  rest  of  the  peninsula  of  Asia  Minor,  proconsular 
Asia  was  given  to  forms  of  idolatry  which  closely  resembled 
those  of  Greece  and  Rome.  It  was  in  that  province  that 
some  twenty-five  years  before  Christ  the  worship  of  Rome 
and  the  emperor  originated,  and  that  soon  afterwards  not 
only  in  Ephesus,  but  also  in  Smyrna,  Sardis,  Laodicea, 
Philadelphia,  etc.,  temples  were  built  to  the  deified  Caesars. 
Each  year  delegates  from  the  chief  cities  of  the  province 
elected  a  priest,  among  the  wealthiest  of  Asia,  and  entrusted 
to  him,  with  the  titles  of  high  priest  and  Asiarch,  the 
presidency  of  the  annual  games  celebrated  by  an  assembly 
of  the  whole  province  in  honor  of  Rome  and  the  emperor. 
Unfortunately  here  also,  as  in  the  rest  of  Asia  Minor,  pagan 
worship  approved  of  or  even  ordered  immoral  practices,  and 
Ephesus,  the  political  head  of  proconsular  Asia,  was  also  its 
worst  city.t 

2.  St.  Paul  in  Ephesus.  Of  all  the  cities  which  St. 
Paul  visited  in  his  missionary  journeys,  Ephesus  is  the  one 
in  which  he  made  the  longest  stay,  owing  probably  to  the 

*  Lewin,  vol.  i.,  p.  314.  +  Lewin,  ibid.,  p.  316. 

J  Cfr.  E.  Bkurlier,  art.  Asiarque,  in  Vigouroux'  Dictionnaire  de  la  Bible;  and 
De  Pressense,  Early  Years  of  Christianity,  p.  170  sq. 


ST.    PAUL'S    THIRD    MISSIONARY    JOURNEY.  29 1 

splendid  opportunity  he  found  therein  freely  to  announce 
the  word  of  God  and  to  spread  it  through  the  whole  prov- 
ince. In  point  of  fact  no  other  city  of  proconsular  Asia 
could  compare  with  Ephesus  in  respect  not  only  of  political 
but  also  of  commercial,  intellectual,  and  religious  import- 
ance. Situated  partly  in  a  large  and  delightful  valley  at  the 
foot  of  Mount  Prion  or  Pion,  partly  on  that  mount  and  on 
Mount  Coressus,  it  communicated  with  the^gean  Sea  by  an 
extensive  lake  turned  into  a  broad  harbor  artificially  em- 
banked and  connecting  with  the  Kayster  River  by  a  large 
canal.  This  situation  was  favorable  alike  for  maritime  and 
for  inland  commerce,  as  it  made  of  Ephesus  a  populous 
centre  on  the  main  road  of  traffic  between  the  East  and  the 
West,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  author  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse, writing  from  the  island  of  Patmos,  well  nigh  opposite 
that  great  city,  appealed  to  his  recollection  of  the  riches  and 
commerce  of  this  most  flourishing  metropolis  of  Asia  to 
describe  the  riches  and  commerce  of  his  Babylon  or  great 
mistress  of  the  world.*  Nor  was  the  intellectual  atmos- 
phere of  Ephesus  less  favorable  to  the  spread  of  the  Gos- 
pel than  its  commercial  relations  with  the  rest  of  the  world. 
It  was  at  the  time  one  of  the  principal  seats  "  of  literary  and 
scientific  culture,  where  Greek  philosophy  and  Oriental 
mysticism  found  eager  and  enthusiastic  representatives, 
while  every  encouragement  was  given  to  eloquent  defenders 
and  expounders  of  the  most  curious  views  by  a  population 
whose  natural  temperament  made  them  welcome,  like  the 
Athenians,  the  announcement  of  any  new  thing.  .  .  .  The 
variety  of  schools  represented,  as  well  as  the  reputation  of 
individual  philosophers  and  rhetoricians,  attracted  large 
numbers  of  young  men  from  all  parts  of  the  world."  f 

There  was,  however,  in  Ephesus  an  influence  at  play 
which  was  likely  to  even  more  than  counterbalance  the  ad- 
vantages which  the  intellectual  and  commercial  importance 

*  Apocau  zviii.  iz  sq.  t  Macphbrson,  Epistle  to  Ephesians,  p.  9. 


292  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

of  the  city  would  offer  for  the  preaching  and  spreading  of 
Christianity,  This  was  the  wonderful  influence  which  the 
worship  of  Artemis  or  Diana,  the  great  deity  of  the  Ephe- 
sians,  exerted  upon  the  cities  and  rural  populations  of  pro- 
consular Asia  and  of  regions  far  beyond  its  limits.  The 
magnificent  temple  of  Diana  **  was  to  the  Asiatics  what  the 
temple  of  Jerusalem  was  to  the  Jews."  *  Built  at  the  joint 
cost  of  all  Asia,  out  of  the  purest  marble,  adorned  with  127 
columns,  each  one  the  gift  of  a  king,  enriched  with  the  most 
beautiful  sculptures  and  paintings  of  Greek  art  and  with  the 
costliest  offerings  of  Asiatic  potentates,  it  was  justly  regarded 
as  one  of  the  seven  wonders  of  the  world.  Nor  did  the  rude 
and  monstrous  statue  of  Diana  venerated  in  Ephesus  appeal 
less  powerfully  to  the  imagination  of  its  worshippers,  for  it 
was  supposed  to  have  fallen  down  from  the  skies,  and  the 
religious  rites  carried  out  in  its  honor  by  a  numerous  and 
wealthy  priesthood  were  exactly  suited  to  the  sensual  in- 
stincts of  the  degraded  pagan  populations.  The  whole 
month  of  May  was  consecrated  to  the  honor  of  the  goddess, 
and  several  cities,  like  that  of  Ephesus,  gloried  in  the  title  of 
Neocoros,  or  humblest  devotee  of  Artemis. 

In  truth  the  very  attempt  to  undermine  this  sensual,  na- 
tional, and  long-cherished  worship  of  the  Diana  of  Ephe- 
sus must  have  seemed  even  to  St.  Paul  a  bold  undertaking, 
and  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  should  have  remained  some- 
thing like  three  years  in  this  great  centre  of  paganism 
to  rear  the  structure  of  a  church  "not  having  spot  or 
wrinkle  or  any  such  thing,  and  that  should  be  holy  and 
without  blemish,"  as  he  conceived  the  Spouse  of  Christ 
should  be.  f 

In  Ephesus  the  Apostle  probably  stayed  with  Aquila  and 
Priscilla,  for  during  his  long  sojourn  in  this  metropolis  he 
earned  his  support  and  that  of  his  friends  by  manual  labor.J 
As  he  had  come  to  redeem  his  promise  to  the  Jews  of  the 

*  Gloag,  Life  of  Paul,  p.  6i.  t  Ephbs.  v.  37.  %  Acts  zz.  t4^ 


ST.  Paul's  third  missionary  journey.  293 

synagogue,  he  naturally  preached  first  to  them  the  word  of 
God,  but  as  after  three  months  it  was  plain  that  his  words 
were  no  longer  welcome,  and  that  even  his  efforts  to  per- 
suade his  hearers  gave  occasion  to  public  blasphemies 
against  Christianity,  he  withdrew  with  his  converts,  and 
started  a  daily  course  of  public  instruction  in  the  school  of 
a  certain  teacher  named  Tyrannus.  This  he  pursued  during 
two  years  with  the  greatest  success,  due  to  a  large  extent  to 
the  numerous  miracles  which  it  pleased  God  to  work  out  by 
the  hands  of  His  servant  ;  conversions  multiplied,  and  their 
deep  earnestness  was  evinced  by  the  burning  of  magical 
books  to  the  value  of  fifty  thousand  pieces  of  silver,  or 
$9000.* 

All  these  conversions,  however,  had  not  taken  place  with- 
out arousing  in  several  quarters  deep  feelings  of  aversion 
against  St.  Paul's  doctrine  and  person.  This  was  the  case  in 
particular  with  the  silversmiths  of  Ephesus,  for  by  his  preach- 
ing against  idolatry  he  had  sensibly  reduced  the  number  of 
those  who  formerly  bought  silver  shrines  of  Diana  (that  is, 
small  models  of  her  temple  which  contained  an  image  of  the 
goddess)  and  had  thereby  greatly  lessened  the  gains  of  those 
artificers.  At  length  one  of  them,  named  Demetrius,  so 
wrought  upon  the  angry  feelings  of  his  fellow  laborers  that  a 
frightful  tumult  ensued.  Fortunately  the  rioters  did  not 
succeed  in  securing  the  person  of  the  Apostle,  who  at  first 
had  wished  to  venture  among  the  multitude  crowded  in  the 
theatre  and  shouting,  "  Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians,"  but 
who  finally  had  been  prevailed  upon  by  his  disciples  and  by 
friendly  Asiarchs  not  to  expose  himself  "  to  the  wild  beasts 
of  Ephesus,"  as  he  figuratively  called  them  later  on.f  At 
length  the  town-clerk  of  the  city,  a  man  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance in  Ephesus,  succeeded  by  his  skilful  address  to 
the  multitude  in  calming  the  popular  fury  and  in  dismissing 
the  assembly. 

♦  Acts  adx.  8-ao.  1 1  Cor.  xv.  )3. 


294  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY^ 

3.  The  Other  Churches  in  the  Province  of  Asia. 

The  chief  reason  which  the  silversmith  Demetrius  alleged 
to  his  assembled  fellows  to  stir  up  their  anger  against  Sto 
Paul  was  that  the  Apostle  had  "  drawn  away  a  great  mul- 
titude, not  only  of  Ephesus,  but  almost  of  all  Asia,"  from 
the  worship  of  Diana.  This  was  unquestionably  the  fact, 
for  either  by  himself  personally,  or  by  his  fellow-workers 
whom  he  had  sent  to  the  principal  cities  of  the  province, 
or  even  by  the  natural  intercourse  and  influence  of  the 
Ephesian  converts,  large  and  flourishing  Christian  com- 
munities had  been  started  in  the  leading  cities  of  procon- 
sular Asia  before  St.  Paul  left  for  Macedonia.  It  was  at 
this  time,  for  instance,  that  churches  arose  in  Laodicea,  Co- 
lossa,  and  Hierapolis,  and  most  likely  also  in  the  other  cities 
mentioned  in  the  Apocalypse  (i.  11). 

It  was  also  during  this  sojourn  of  St.  Paul  in  Ephesus 
that  he  wrote  his  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  Besides 
disclosing  the  trials  or  abuses  peculiar  to  the  church  of 
Corinth,  this  letter  makes  us  acquainted  with  the  general 
temptations  and  doctrinal  difficulties  which  naturally  beset 
Gentile  converts  living  in  the  midst  of  idolatrous  and  im- 
moral populations,  and  with  the  tender,  yet  authoritative^ 
manner  in  which  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  deals  with  the 
various  topics  of  which  he  had  been  apprised,  either  by  let- 
ter or  by  men  come  from  the  capital  of  Achaia. 

§  3.  Sf.  PauVs  Work  in  Europe. 

I.  Extensive   Missionary  Labors  in   Macedonia. 

When  St.  Paul  left  Ephesus  soon  after  the  outbreak  of  the 
silversmiths  he  apparently  intended  to  carry  out  at  once  his 
long-cherished  project  of  visiting  the  churches  of  Macedo- 
nia. It  seems,  however,  that  the  ship  he  took  was  bound 
for  Troas,  and  that,  once  arrived  in  that  city,  he  tarried 
long  enough  to  found  a  church,  which  he  revisited  on  his 


ST.    PAUL'S   THIRD   MISSIONARY    JOURNEY.  295 

return  from  Greece.*  Here  also  he  anxiously  waited  for 
Titus,  whom  he  had  deputed  to  Corinth,  but  this  faithful 
friend  rejoined  St.  Paul  only  after  he  had  sailed  for  Mace- 
donia.t  As  the  news  brought  by  Titus  was  of  a  comfort- 
ing kind  about  the  condition  of  the  Corinthian  church, 
the  Apostle  felt  free  to  remain  long  months  in  Macedonia, 
and  was  satisfied  for  the  time  being  with  writing  his  Second 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians. 

Of  this  long  stay  of  St.  Paul  in  Macedonia  we  are  simply 
told  in  the  book  of  the  Acts  that  "  when  he  had  gone  over 
those  parts,  and  had  exhorted  them  with  many  words,  he 
came  into  Greece."  I  But  it  is  very  probable  that,  as  in  his 
second  missionary  journey  he  had  already  evangelized  the 
three  first  districts  of  the  province  of  Macedonia,  he  now 
visited  the  fourth  or  Macedonia,  Quarta,  for  when  he  wrote 
not  long  afterwards  to  the  Romans  he  could  say  :  "  From 
Jerusalem  round  about  as  far  as  unto  Illyricum,  I  have 
replenished  the  Gospel  of  Christ."  § 

2.  Sojourn  in  Corinth.  At  length  St.  Paul  passed 
into  Achaia,  and,  as  he  had  promised  to  them  in  his  first 
epistle,  he  remained  long,  perhaps  the  whole  winter  months, 
with  the  Corinthians.  His  chief  object  was  evidently  to  set 
all  things  right  in  that  weak,  yet  well-disposed.  Christian 
community;  and  it  seems  that  his  presence  and  his  admo- 
nitions at  this  juncture  completed  the  good  which  his  two 
epistles  to  the  Corinthians  had  already  so  powerfully  be- 
gun, for  this  much  can  be  inferred  with  tolerable  certainty 
from  the  words  which  St.  Clement  of  Rome,  writing  to  the 
same  church  some  forty  years  later,  uses  concerning  their 
past  well-known  brotherly  love.| 

It  was  from  Corinth  that  St.  Paul,  now  about  to  retrace 
his  steps  without  visiting  Rome,  wrote  his  Epistle  to  the 

»  Acts  xx.  i  ;  2  Cor.  ii.  12.  +  2  Cor.  ii.  13  ;  vii.  5,  6. 

t  Acts  xx.  2.  §  Rom.  xv.  19. 

D  Epist.  to  Corinth.,  chap.  zIyiL 


296  OUTLINES    OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

Romans,  first  to  excuse  himself  for  not  visiting  them  at  this 
time,  and  next  to  announce  to  them  his  intended  coming. 

§  4,   The  Return. 

I.  Through  Philippi,  Troas,  and  Miletus.    By  this 

time  the  collections  for  the  Christians  of  Jerusalem  which 
St.  Paul  had  been  making  during  his  visit  through  the 
churches  of  Macedonia  and  Achaia  were  completed,  and  he 
now  purposed  to  reach  the  Holy  City  before  the  Paschal 
festival.  With  this  in  view  he  was  about  to  take  a  pilgrim 
ship  carrying  Jews  from  Achaia  and  Asia  to  the  Passover, 
when  the  discovery  of  a  Jewish  plot  against  his  life  led  him 
to  give  up  his  project  and  to  pass  into  Macedonia,  where 
he  arrived  in  time  to  celebrate  the  Paschal  festival  in  Phi- 
lippi. 

"  It  is  clear  that  the  plot  was  discovered  at  the  last  mo- 
ment, when  delegates  from  the  churches  had  already  as- 
sembled to  carry  the  alms  of  their  respective  communities 
to  Jerusalem.  The  European  delegates  were  to  sail  from 
Corinth,  the  Asian  from  Ephesus,  where  doubtless  the  pil- 
grim ship  would  call.  When  the  plan  was  changed,  word 
was  sent  to  the  Asian  delegates  ;  and  they  went  as  far  as 
Troas  to  meet  the  others,  for  in  ancient  voyages  it  could  be 
calculated  with  certainty  that  Paul's  company  would  put  in 
at  that  harbor."  * 

In  point  of  fact  after  the  Paschal  celebration  St.  Paul 
and  his  companions — among  whom  was  reckoned  the  writer 
of  the  Acts,  who  uses  again  the  first  person  "  we  "  in  his 
narrative — sailed  from  Philippi,  and  reached  Troas  in  five 
days.  There  they  remained  a  week  ;  but  in  connection 
with  this  sojourn  we  are  given  an  account  only  of  what  oc- 
curred on  the  last  day  before  St.  Paul's  departure.  We 
are  told  how  on  "  the  first  day  of  the  week  "  (our  Sunday), 

*  Ramsay,  St.  Paul,  p.  287. 


ST.    PAUL'S    THIRD   MISSIONARY   JOURNEY,  297 

when  the  Christians  had  gathered  "  to  break  bread,"  the 
Apostle  continued  discoursing  until  midnight.  Then,  owing 
to  the  great  heat  of  the  upper  room  wherein  the  assembly 
was  held,  a  young  man  named  Eutychus,  sitting  on  the 
window,  was  overcome  by  sleep,  fell  from  the  third  story, 
and  was  taken  up  dead  ;  but  the  young  man  was  restored  to 
life  by  St.  Paul,  who,  having  spent  the  rest  of  the  night  con- 
versing with  the  faithful  of  the  place,  so  eager  to  listen  to 
him,  took  leave  at  daybreak  for  Assos.  This  was  a  seaport 
of  proconsular  Asia,  more  than  40  miles  distant  by  sea, 
but  only  about  20  by  land,  and  the  Apostle,  for  some 
unrecorded  reason,  chose  to  go  thither  on  foot,  while  his 
companions  sailed  round  the  promontory  of  Lectum.  At 
Assos  St.  Paul  took  to  ship  again  with  his  companions,  and, 
having  touched  at  Mitylene,  the  capital  of  the  island  of  Les- 
bos, and  at  Samos,  a  populous  island  off  the  coast  of  Lydia, 
reached  Miletus,  from  which  he  intended  to  sail  as  soon  as 
possible  in  order  to  arrive  at  Jerusalem  for  the  feast  of 
Pentecost.* 

In  thus  coasting  along  the  shores  of  Asia  St.  Paul  had 
purposely  omitted  calling  at  Ephesus,  lest  he  should  be  de- 
tained too  long  there  ;  but  as  his  vessel  had  to  remain  a  few 
days  in  Miletus,  he  profited  by  the  comparatively  short  dis- 
tance between  the  two  cities  to  send  word  to  "  the  ancients  of 
the  church  "  of  Ephesus  that  they  should  come  and  meet 
him.  When  these  were  assembled,  he  delivered  to  them  his 
celebrated  farewell  address,  a  touching  model  of  paternal  so- 
licitude, and  of  apostolic  zeal  for  their  own  welfare  and  that 
of  their  flock. f  Finally  the  time  came  for  parting,  when 
all,  falling  on  their  knees,  united  in  fervent  prayer  with  St. 
Paul,  and  then  surrounded  him  with  the  most  sincere  marks 
of  attachment,  chiefly  because  he  had  said  "  that  they 
should  see  his  face  no  more."  J 

♦  Acts  zz.  3-1$.  t  Acts  xx.  16-35.  t  Acts  xx.  36-38. 


898  OUTLINES  OF   NEW    TESTAMENT   HISTORY. 

2.  The  Voyage  from  Miletus  to  Cssarea.    The 

second  part  of  St.  Paul's  journey  to  Jerusalem  was  mostly 
by  sea.  The  ship  which  carried  him  and  his  companions 
sailed  first  to  the  island  of  Coos,  about  40  miles  to  the 
south  of  Miletus,  and  the  next  day  to  the  island  of  Rhodes, 
and  thence  to  Patara,  the  harbor  of  Xanthus,  the  capital  of 
the  Roman  province  of  Lycia.  There  they  changed  ship, 
and  took  one  which  sailed  direct  to  Tyre,  in  Phenicia.  St. 
Paul  spent  a  week  with  the  Christians  of  Tyre,  and,  despite 
their  predictions  of  the  great  dangers  which  awaited  him  in 
Jerusalem,  went  on  board  again,  and  finally  reached  Ptol- 
emais  (Acre),  where  the,voyage  by  sea  came  to  an  end.* 

The  next  day  after  landing,  the  Apostle  and  those  with 
him  were  on  their  way  to  Caesarea  of  Palestine,  a  city  some 
30  miles  distant,  and  in  which  the  deacon  St.  Philip 
lived  with  his  household  in  the  midst  of  an  old  and  large 
Christian  settlement.  Of  course  the  holy  deacon  welcomed 
most  heartily  St.  Paul  and  his  companions  into  his  house, 
and  the  Apostle,  on  his  part,  accepted  with  joy  and  gratitude 
a  lodging  in  a  house  so  manifestly  blessed  by  God,  that  the 
four  daughters  of  St.  Philip  were  endowed  with  the  gift  of 
prophecy.  It  was  during  this  short  sojourn  in  Caesarea, 
that  the  prophet  Agabus,  who  had  formerly  predicted  the 
famine  which  occurred  under  Claudius,!  came  "from 
Judaea  "  to  warn  St.  Paul  of  the  danger  he  was  running  in 
going  up  to  Jerusalem.  Whereupon,  the  companions  of  the 
Apostle  and  all  the  Christians  of  Caesarea  besought  him  not 
to  expose  himself  ;  but  to  all  their  words,  accompanied  by 
tears,  the  undaunted  missionary  simply  replied  :  "  I  am 
ready  not  only  to  be  bound,  but  to  die  also  in  Jerusalem  for 
the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  I 

3.  Arrival  at  Jerusalem.  About  70  miles  separated 
Caesarea  from  Jerusalem,  and  as  the  Pentecost  festival 
drew  near,  St.  Paul  started  for  the  Holy  City  in  company 

•  Acts  xxi.  1-7.  t  Acts  xi.  27  sq.  t  Acts  xxi.  8-14. 


ST,    PAUL'S   THIRD    MISSIONARY    JOURNEY.  299 

with  several  disciples  of  Caesarea.  They  had  with  them  a 
certain  Mnason  of  Cyprus,  whose  faith  of  long  standing  had 
proved  him  perfectly  reliable,  and  who,  possessing  a  house 
of  his  own  in  Jerusalem,  was  but  too  glad  to  place  it  at  the 
disposal  of  St.  Paul  and  his  companions.  At  his  arrival  in 
Jerusalem,  the  Apostle  was  joyfully  received  by  those 
Christians  who  were  made  aware  of  his  presence,  and  the 
next  day  "  he  went  in  unto  James,"  with  whom  were 
gathered  all  the  ancients  of  the  Church.* 

Thus  terminated  St.  Paul's  third  and  probably  most  im- 
portant missionary  journey,  in  respect  both  of  the  extent 
of  ground  covered  and  of  the  number  of  churches  founded. 
It  lasted  four  years  or  perhaps  a  little  more,  from  about 

49  to  53  A.D. 

*ACTSXzi.  15-18. 


SYNOPSIS    OF   CHAPTER   XXVI. 
St.  Paul's  Arrest  and  Imprisonment. 


I.  Judaistic  Opposition  to  St.  Paul.    The  Advice 
,  of  St.  James. 

Arrest  in  ,  ^^^  infuriated  Jews. 

l!?„^'t :  ^^'o- .   1  ^'  ^\l.'^'^!!!lie"]  The  address  of  St.  Paul  to 


(Acts  xxi.  i8  ; 
xxiii.  lo). 


the  Temple.  ,      the  multitude. 
1 3.  St.  Paul's  Defence  before  the  Sanhedrim. 


II. 

Imprisonment 

IN  Cesarea: 

(Acts  xxiii.  11; 

xxvi). 


1.   Paul  sent  Prisoner  to  Caesarea. 


He  appears 
before 
Felix: 


Character  and  administration 
of  the  Roman  procurator. 

Charges  of  the  Jews  and  St. 
Paul's  defence. 

Two  years'  detention  in 
Caesarea. 


of 


(The  new  procurator.     Date 
his  entrance  into  office. 
The  trial    before  Festus  ended 
by  appeal  to  Caesar. 

4.  St.  Paul's  Discourse  before  King  Agrippa. 


III. 
Journey  to 
Rome:  (Acts 
xxvii.-xxviii. 

16). 


I.  From  Caesarea 
to  Malta: 


The  voyage  and  shipwreck. 
Minute  accuracy  of  the  sacred 
narrative. 


2.  Sojourn  in  the  Island  of  Malta. 
.3.  From  Malta  to  Rome. 
300 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 
ST.  Paul's  arrest  and  imprisonment. 

§  I.  Arrest  in  Jerusalem. 

I.  Judaistic  Opposition  to  St.  Paul.  When,  on  the 
day  which  followed  his  arrival  in  the  Holy  City,  St.  Paul 
appeared  before  the  formal  assembly  of  the  ancients  of  the 
Church  under  the  presidency  of  St.  James,  he  had  not,  in 
fact  he  could  not  have,  any  serious  misgivings  about  their 
feelings  regarding  his  own  person  and  doctrine.  What  he 
had  so  far  preached  to  the  Gentiles  had  formerly  received 
their  distinct  approval,  and  if  slanderous  reports  had  during 
his  long  absence  caused  in  their  minds  something  like  doubt 
or  even  distrust  as  to  his  actual  teachings  to  the  Gentiles  he 
knew  that  a  straightforward  account  of  the  marvels  which 
God  had  wrought  everywhere  through  his  agency,  and  to 
which  his  numerous  companions  were  ready  to  bear  witness, 
would  be  more  than  sufficient  to  dispel  at  once  all  traces  of 
unfriendly  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  heads  of  the  church  of 
Jerusalem.  In  point  of  fact  we  are  told  in  the  sacred 
narrative  that,  "  having  related  particularly  what  things  God 
had  wrought  among  the  Gentiles  by  his  ministry,  they  hear- 
ing it  glorified  God."  But  in  spite,  or  rather  because,  of 
their  friendly  dispositions  towards  St.  Paul,  the  leaders  of 
the  church  of  Jerusalem  felt  they  should  take  into  account 
the  state  of  excitement  into  which  his  presence  was  sure  to 
throw  his  Judaistic  opponents.  By  many  Jewish  converts 
he  had  ever  been  more  less  suspected  of  enmity  to  the  Mosaic 
Law,  and  the  late  arrival  of  the  Asiatic  Jews,  who,  as  we 

301 


302  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

have  seen,  had  plotted  against  his  life  at  Corinth,  and  who 
had  since  their  coming  to  the  Holy  City  sedulously  spread 
the  rumor  that  he  taught  the  Hellenistic  Jews  positive  dis- 
regard of  the  Law  of  Moses,  had  wrought  powerfully  upon 
the  feelings  of  the  thousands  of  Jewish  converts  now  in 
Jerusalem,  and  "  all  zealous  for  the  Law."  It  seemed,  there- 
fore, highly  desirable  that  St.  Paul  should  do  something  to 
destroy  the  effect  of  these  calumnious  reports  on  the 
Christian  community,  and  at  the  same  time  disarm  the 
hostility  of  the  unconverted  Jews.  Accordingly  the  heads 
of  the  Jewish  Church  advised  him  to  show  to  all  in  a  prac- 
tical manner  that  he  was  no  fanatic  enemy  of  Mosaism.  To 
this  the  Apostle  readily  agreed,  for  the  particular  conduct  now 
suggested  to  him — that  of  taking  part  in  the  religious  services 
of  four  Nazarites  and  of  defraying  the  expenses  which  at- 
tended their  purification — clearly  involved  no  giving  up  of 
the  great  principle  of  Gentile  freedom  formerly  promulgated 
in  the  Council  of  Jerusalem  and  ever  since  preached  by  him 
through  the  Roman  Empire.* 

2.  The  Arrest  in  the  Temple.  What  St.  Paul  had 
consented  to  do  was  usually  considered  highly  meritorious 
by  all  the  Jews,  but,  under  the  circumstances  of  the  time, 
his  Asiatic  enemies  were  so  bent  upon  his  destruction  that 
what  was  best  calculated  to  appease  their  anger  simply 
furnished  them  with  the  opportunity  of  making  an  attempt 
upon  his  life.  Towards  the  end  of  the  seven  days  during 
which  he  had  to  appear  in  the  Temple  with  the  four  Naza- 
rites, some  of  those  bigots,  meeting  him  within  the  sacred 
precincts  after  having  seen  him  in  the  company  of  the 
Ephesian  Trophimus  some  time  before,  called  on  others  to 
help  in  arresting  a  great  enemy  of  Judaism,  and  one  who, 
moreover,  as  they  affirmed,  had  brought  Gentiles  into  that 
part  of  the  Temple  strictly  forbidden  to  the  uncircum- 
cised.      An   uproar    ensued,    during   which    the    Apostle, 

*  Acts  xxi.  18-36. 


ST.    PAUL'S    ARREST    AND    IMPRISONMENT.  303 

dragged  out  of  the  Inner  Court,  would  certainly  have  been 
beaten  to  death  had  not  the  tribune  Lysias,  informed  of  the 
riot,  rushed  down  at  once  from  the  fortress  Antonia  with 
soldiers  and  centurions.  The  tribune  arrested  the  Apostle, 
whom  he  supposed  to  be  an  Egyptian  impostor,  who  had 
lately  caused  a  revolt,  and  had  hitherto  baffled  the  pursuit 
of  the  soldiers  of  Felix,  the  Roman  governor.  But  he  was 
soon  undeceived,  for  St.  Paul,  having  been  scarcely  conveyed 
to  the  fortress,  asked  of  him  leave  to  address  the  people, 
affirming  that  he  was  "  a  Jew  of  Tarsus  in  Cilicia." 

The  recorded  discourse  of  the  Apostle  under  such  un- 
favorable circumstances  for  an  address  is  a  model  of  skilful 
pleading  calculated  to  secure  and  hold  long — as  we  are  told 
it  did — the  attention  of  most  unfriendly  hearers.  It  is  an 
historical  retrospect  of  his  life,  in  which  the  principal  points 
are  described  so  as  to  justify  his  words  and  conduct,  but, 
still  more,  so  as  to  please  the  popular  fancy  by  setting  forth 
every  detail  that  could  appear  honorable  to  the  Jewish  Law 
and  nation.  But,  of  course,  the  mention  of  his  mission  to 
the  Gentiles  had  to  be  made,  and  when  made  it  aroused  at 
once  the  fury  of  the  mob,  and  in  their  rage  they  clamored 
for  his  blood,  "  threw  off  their  garments,  and  cast  dust  into 
the  air."  * 

Witnessing  this  second  outbreak,  of  which  he  could  not 
make  out  the  cause,  for  he  did  not  understand  the  Aramaic 
language  used  by  St.  Paul,  the  tribune  ordered  that  he 
should  be  examined  by  scourging  ;  but  this  was  not  carried 
out,  the  Apostle  appealing  at  once  to  his  Roman  citizen- 
ship,  which  guaranteed  exemption  from  such  indignity.f 

3.  St.  Paul's  Defence  before  the  Sanhedrim.  The 
very  next  day  Lysias,  desirous  to  know  what  were  the 
precise  crimes  laid  to  the  charge  of  his  prisoner,  had  him 
loosed  and,  under  the  guard  of  an  escort  of  Roman  soldiers, 
brought   before   the   Sanhedrim.      The   president   of   this 

*  See  Gloag,  life  of  Paul,  p.  77.  t  Acts  xxii.  1-29. 


304  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

Jewish  assembly  was  no  other  than  the  high  priest  Ananias, 
who  belonged  to  the  family  of  Annas,  famous  for  its  con- 
nection with  the  trial  of  Jesus,  and  who  hastened  to  give 
evidence  of  his  usual  disregard  of  justice  and  of  his  deep- 
seated  hatred  of  Christianity.  Hardly  had  St.  Paul  begun 
his  address  by  affirming  that  he  had  ever  been  faithful  to 
his  conscience,  when  that  infamous  high  priest  ordered 
his  servants  who  stood  nearest  to  the  Apostle,  to  strike  him 
on  the  mouth.  Whereupon  St.  Paul  indignantly  replied  : 
"  God  shall  strike  thee,  thou  whited  wall.  For  sittest  thou 
to  judge  me  according  to  the  Law,  and  contrary  to  the  Law 
commandest  thou  me  to  be  struck?"  but  being  made  aware 
that  the  one  guilty  of  such  unjust  violence  was  no  other 
than  the  high  priest,  he  withdrew  at  once  the  expressions 
he  had  just  used,  and  proceeded  with  his  defence. 

It  seems  that  at  this  time  the  quarrel  of  long  standing 
between  Sadducees  and  Pharisees — the  two  principal  ele- 
ments of  the  Sanhedrim — with  regard  to  the  question  of 
the  resurrection  had  reached  its  hottest  point,  and  St.  Paul, 
who  knew  it  full  well,  shrewdly  exclaimed  :  "  I  am  a  Phari- 
see, the  son  of  Pharisees  ;  concerning  the  hope  and  resur- 
rection of  the  dead  I  am  called  in  question."  His  device 
succeeded  admirably,  for  there  arose  so  great  a  dissension 
in  the  Sanhedrim  that  "the  tribune,  fearing  lest  Paul 
should  be  torn  in  pieces  by  them,"  ordered  him  to  be  taken 
from  among  them  and  brought  back  into  the  fortress.* 

§  2.  Imprisonment  in  Casarea, 

I.  Paul  Sent  Prisoner  to  Caesarea.  Great  indeed  was 

the  disappointment  of  the  Asiatic  enemies  of  St.  Paul  when 
they  heard  of  the  manner  in  which  he  had  escaped  con- 
demnation by  the  Sanhedrim  ;  and  in  their  rage  some  of 
them  "  bound  themselves  under  a  curse,  saying,  that  they 

♦  Acts  xxii.  30;  xxiii.  10. 


ST.    PAUL  S    ARREST    AND    IMPRISONMENT,  305 

would  neither  eat  nor  drink,  till  they  killed  Paul."  Their 
plan  was  that  he  should  again  be  brought  before  the  San- 
hedrim as  if  to  resume  the  inquiry  so  tumultuously  inter- 
rupted, and  that  they  would  murder  him  on  his  way  thither. 
But  God  watched  over  the  life  of  one  whom  He  destined 
to  bear  Him  witness  in  the  capital  of  the  empire,  and' 
Paul's  nephew,  having  become  aware  of  the  plot,  found 
means  to  convey  the  information  without  delay  to  the 
Roman  commander.  Whereupon  Lysias  took  instant  and 
absolutely  sure  measures  for  the  safety  of  his  prisoner  ;  no 
fewer  than  470  soldiers  were  to  escort  him  that  very  night  on 
the  road  to  Caesarea,  the  residence  of  Antonius  Felix,  the 
Roman  procurator.  At  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  the 
escort  started  with  Paul  mounted  on  horseback,  and  it 
reached  Antipatris,  some  40  miles  distant,  in  the  early 
morning.  As  from  hence  to  Csesarea  an  ambuscade  from 
the  banditti  who  infested  the  district  was  no  longer  to  be 
feared,  the  greater  part  of  the  escort  returned  to  Jerusalem, 
while  the  rest  hastened  to  deliver  up  the  prisoner  to  the 
procurator,  together  with  a  short  letter  from  Lysias  which 
gave  a  substantially  correct  account  of  what  had  happened. 
Upon  the  reading  of  this  letter  Felix  ascertained  the  prov- 
ince to  which  Paul  belonged,  and  then  promised  to  hear 
his  case  as  soon  as  his  accusers  had  come,  ordering  that 
meantime  he  should  be  kept  in  Herod's  palace.* 

2.  St.  Paul  before  Felix.f  Few  Roman  officials  have 
left  after  them  a  worse  record  than  Antonius  Felix,  the 
procurator  of  Judaea,  before  whose  tribunal  St.  Paul  was 
soon  to  be  confronted  with  his  enemies.  It  is  of  that 
brother  of  Pallas,  the  freedman  of  Claudius,  to  whose  in- 
fluence in  Rome  Felix  owed  his  actual  continuance  in 
office,  that  Tacitus  says  in  his  usual  pithy  manner  :  "  He 
wielded  the  sceptre  of  a  monarch  with  the  soul  of  a  slave."  I 
He  rendered  at  first,  it  is  true,  some  good  service  by  putting 

*  Acts  xxiii.  11-35.  t  Acts  xxiv.  i,  27.  J  Histor.,  book  V.,  chap.  x= 


3o6  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

down  the  banditti  who  had  infested  Judaea  under  his  pred 
ecessor ;  but  he  soon  proved  himself  "  artful  and  per- 
fidious, and  stirred  by  revenge,  even  to  the  use  of  the 
assassin's  knife,  a  votary  of  pleasure,  and  regardless  of  the 
feelings  he  wounded  in  the  pursuit  of  it,  ostentatious  and 
extravagant,  and  feeding  his  wasteful  indulgences  by  pecu- 
lation and  extortion."* 

After  a  few  days  of  detention  in  the  palace  of  Herod, 
which  Felix  actually  used  as  his  headquarters,  St.  Paul 
appeared  before  the  procurator.  The  high  priest  Ananias 
had  come  down  himself  from  Jerusalem,  "  with  some  of  the 
ancients,"  to  accuse  the  Apostle,  and  they  had  taken  with 
them  Tertullus,  a  hired  advocate,  to  argue  the  case  in  the 
Greek  language.  In  an  artful  speech  Tertullus  brought 
three  distinct  charges  against  the  accused  :  first,  that  he  had 
"  raised  seditions  among  all  the  Jews  throughout  the  world," 
and  was  thus  guilty  of  treason  against  the  emperor ;  next, 
that  he  was  a  ringleader  of  the  "  sect  of  the  Nazarenes  "  ; 
lastly,  that  he  had  attempted  to  profane  the  Temple.  The 
reply  of  St.  Paul  was  a  dignified  answer  to  these  charges.  As 
the  procurator  could  easily  ascertain,  the  Apostle  had  in  no 
way  during  his  short  sojourn  of  twelve  days  in  Jerusalem 
provoked  a  sedition.  He  belonged  indeed  to  the  "sect "  of 
the  Nazarenes,  who  were  considered  by  the  Jews  as  heretics, 
but  in  becoming  a  member  of  it  he  had  not  given  up  belief 
in  what  is  written  "in  the  Law  and  the  prophets,"  and 
since  then  he  had  most  earnestly  endeavored  to  live  up 
to  the  dictates  of  his  conscience.  His  coming  to  the  Holy 
City,  after  many  years  of  absence,  was  not  only  natural  but 
even  laudable,  because  prompted  by  his  desire  of  bringing 
alms  to  his  nation  and  of  carrying  out  religious  observances. 
Finally,  his  conduct  before  the  Sanhedrim  had  been  irre- 
proachable, and  he  challenged  the  present  members  of  that 

*  Lbwin,  vol.  ii.,  p.  121 ;  for  details  see  Josephus,  Antiq.  of  the  Jews,  book  XX., 
chap.  vii.  sq. 


ST.    PAUL'S    ARREST    AND    IMPRISONMENT.  307 

assembly  to  gainsay  that,  standing  before  them,  he  had 
uttered  but  this  one  sentence  :  "  Concerning  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead  am  I  judged  this  day  by  you." 

This  was  a  vigorous  defence,  and  as  Felix,  who  for  several 
years  had  already  been  procurator  of  Judaea,  had  had  no 
reason  to  complain  of  the  disciples  of  Christ,  he  put  the  Jews 
off  with  the  pretext :  "  When  Lysias  the  tribune  shall  come 
down,  I  will  hear  you."  Meantime  he  ordered  the  cen- 
turion to  whom  he  entrusted  the  guard  of  St.  Paul  that  he 
should  treat  him  with  kindness,  and  not  prevent  any  of  his 
friends  from  visiting  and  ministering  to  him. 

A  few  days  elapsed,  and,  possibly  at  the  request  of  his 
consort  Drusilla,  a  sister  of  King  Agrippa  II.,  and  a  woman 
of  abandoned  character,  Felix  ''  sent  for  Paul  and  heard 
of  him  the  faith  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus."  With  fearless 
courage,  like  that  of  John  the  Baptist  in  almost  identical 
circumstances,  the  Apostle  attacked  the  vices  and  crimes  of 
the  procurator,  and  by  his  warnings  of  the  judgment  to 
come  terrified  without,  however,  converting  him.  Often- 
times, it  is  true,  during  St.  Paul's  two  years'  detention  in 
Caesarea  the  procurator  held  converse  with  his  prisoner, 
but  it  was  mainly,  if  not  solely,  to  give  him  an  opportunity 
of  offering  money  for  his  release.  At  the  end  of  two  years 
Felix  was  succeeded  by  Portius  Festus  in  the  procurator- 
ship  of  Judaea. 

3.  St.  Paul  and  Festus.  The  new  procurator,  though 
probably  a  freedman  like  his  predecessor,  was  very  different 
from  him.  He  combined  justice  and  energy,  together  with 
a  natural  desire  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  leading  men 
of  the  nation  under  his  government,  so  that,  notwithstanding 
the  many  causes  of  friction  constantly  at  play  between 
Jewish  susceptibilities  and  Roman  rule,  he  succeeded  during 
the  whole  time  of  his  administration  in  giving  no  serious 
offence  to  the  Jewish  leaders. 

The  exact  date  at  which  Festus  took  upon  him  the  charge 


3o8  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

of  procurator  has  been  of  late  the  subject-matter  of  a  lively 
discussion  among  biblical  scholars,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the 
date  admitted,  whatever  it  may  be,  has  an  important  bearing 
upon  the  whole  chronology  of  the  book  of  the  Acts,  and 
upon  early  traditions  concerning  the  work  of  St.  Peter  in 
Rome,  the  journey  of  St.  Paul  to  Spain,  etc.  They  all, 
indeed,  agree  as  to  the  fact  that  Festus  was  the  immediate 
successor  of  Felix  in  the  procuratorship  of  Judaea  ;  but, 
because  of  a  remarkable  contradiction  between  Josephus  and 
Tacitus,  they  disagree  as  to  the  date  when  Felix  entered 
upon  and  was  removed  from  office.  Many  scholars,  abiding 
by  the  statements  of  Josephus,  admit  that  Felix  became 
procurator  only  after  Cumanus  had  been  deprived  of  that 
charge  in  52  a.d.,  and  that  he  filled  that  office  until  60  a.d. 
Other  scholars,  on  the  contrary,  standing  by  the  authority 
of  the  Roman  historian,  hold  that  Felix  began  his  career  as 
procurator  of  Judaea  at  the  same  time  as  Cumanus  became 
procurator  over  Galilee,  and  that  both  thus  continued 
simultaneously  in  office,  from  48  to  52,  when,  because  of 
trouble  between  the  Samaritans  and  Galileans,  Cumanus 
was  banished  and  Felix  made  procurator  alone  over  the 
whole  province,  which  he  then  administered  up  to  the  year 
55.  While,  therefore,  the  former  scholars  admit  that  Festus 
entered  into  office  as  late  as  60  a.d.,  the  latter  affirm  that 
he  became  procurator  in  55  a.d. 

This  is  indeed  a  difficult  question  of  chronology  and  one 
which  should  not  be  decided  very  positively  either  way  ; 
yet  a  careful  weighing  of  the  arguments  on  both  sides  leads 
us  rather  to  think  with  Baronius,  Patrizi,  Kellner,  Ramsay, 
etc.,  that  Tacitus  was  better  informed  than  Josephus,  and 
that  consequently  55  a.d.  is  the  preferable  date  for  the 
entrance  of  Festus  into  office.* 

*  Cfr.  Josephus,  Antiquities  of  the  Jews,  book  XX.,  chap,  v.-viii.;  Wars  of  thejews, 
book  II.,  chaps,  xii.,  xiii. ;  Tacitus,  Annals,  book  XII.,  chap.  liv. ;  book  XIII.,  chaps. 
xiv.,  XV.;  EusHBius,  Chronicle,  in  Migne's  Lat.  Patrol.,  vol.  xxvii.,  col.  584;  see  also 
The  Biblical  World  for  February  and  March,  1898 ;  and  The.Expositor,  Februanr. 


ST.    PAUL'S    ARREST    AND    IMPRISONMENTo  309 

When  Festus  reached  Caesarea  he  hastened  to  pay  a  visit 
to  Jerusalem  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  heads  of  the 
Jewish  people,  and  they  at  once  thought  it  a  favorable 
occasion  to  ask  of  the  new  procurator  that  Paul  should  be 
brought  to  Jerusalem,  "laying  wait  to  kill  him  in  the  way." 
As,  however,  the  Apostle  was  already  in  Caesarea,  whither  he 
himself  intended  to  return  very  shortly,  Festus  denied  the 
request,  but  invited  the  most  influential  among  them  to  go 
down  with  him  and  set  forth  their  charges  against  St.  Paul. 
The  trial  was  opened  eight  or  ten  days  afterwards  in 
Caesarea,  but,  as  the  Jews  could  not  prove  their  case,  the 
procurator,  anxious  to  show  kindness  to  the  Jewish  leaders 
who  had  accompanied  him,  asked  Paul  whether  he  was 
willing  to  go  up  to  Jerusalem  and  there  be  judged  by  the 
Sanhedrim,  in  his  presence.  Of  course  the  Apostle  could 
not  agree  to  a  proposal,  which,  while  clearly  implying  his 
innocence,  practically  left  the  decision  of  his  case  in  the 
hands  of  his  sworn  enemies.  He  therefore  rejected  the 
offer  of  Festus,  and,  exercising  the  right  of  every  Roman 
citizen,  appealed  to  Caesar.  The  appeal  was  admitted,  the 
Jews  dismissed,  and  the  Apostle  remanded  to  prison.* 

4.  St.  Paul's  Discourse  before  King  Agrippa. 
Some  days  elapsed,  after  which,  on  the  occasion  of  a  friendly 
visit  to  the  new  procurator  by  Agrippa  II.,  the  king  of  the 
tetrarchies  formerly  under  Philip  and  Lysanias,  and  the  son 
of  that  Herod  whose  terrible  death  is  recorded  in  the  book 
of  the  Acts,t  St.  Paul  appeared  before  Festus,  his  guest 
King  Agrippa  and  his  wife  Bernice,  and  a  numerous  gather- 
ing of  tribunes  and  principal  men  of  Caesarea.  At  the  cour- 
teous invitation  of  the  procurator  to  set  forth  before  the 
king  his  peculiar  religious  views  and  the  points  of  diver- 
gence between  him  and  the  Jews,  the  Apostle  delivered  a 
long  discourse  covering  pretty  much  the  same  ground  as  the 
address  he  had  delivered  to  the  people  immediately  after 

•  Acts  xxv.  1-12.  t  Acts  xii.  33. 


310  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORYc 

his  arrest  in  Jerusalem  two  years  before.  He  spoke  of  his 
"  education  according  to  the  strictest  requirements  of  the 
Jewish  law  "  ;  *  of  the  sincere  zeal  with  which  he  formerly 
persecuted  the  disciples  of  Christ  "  even  unto  foreign 
cities  "  t  ;  of  the  vision  granted  to  him  on  his  way  to  Da- 
mascus, and  of  his  commission  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
Jews  and  Gentiles  I  ;  and  lastly  of  unceasing  endeavors  to 
carry  out  this  commission,  which  had  brought  upon  him 
the  enmity  of  the  Jews,  though  his  teaching  was  in  strict 
accordance  with  the  Jewish  Scriptures,  and  their  predic- 
tions of  the  coming  of  a  Messias  who  should  suffer  and  rise 
from  the  dead.  § 

All  this  appeared  sheer  nonsense  to  Festus,  who  inter- 
rupted with  a  loud  voice  :  *'  Paul,  thou  art  beside  thyself  ; 
much  learning  doth  make  thee  mad."  The  reply  of  the 
Apostle  to  the  procurator  was  simple  and  dignified,  and  fol- 
lowed by  a  powerful  appeal  to  King  Agrippa's  belief  in  the 
prophecies  which  were  contained  in  the  Old  Testament 
records,  and  the  fulfilment  of  which  was  manifest  in  the 
public  life,  passion  and  death  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Then 
Agrippa  said  to  Paul :  "  In  a  little  thou  persuadest  me  to 
become  a  Christian,"  words  which  have  been  variously  con- 
sidered as  giving  expression  to  sincere  conviction,  bitter 
irony  or  courtly  jest,  but  which  plainly  told  the  Apostle 
that  his  words  had  not  worked  the  conversion  he  longed 
for  and  drew  from  his  heart  this  fervent  exclamation  :  "I 
would  to  God,  that  both  in  a  little  and  in  much,  not  only 
thou,  but  also  all  that  hear  me  this  day,  should  become  such 
as  I  also  am,  except  these  bands." 

Whereupon  the  king  arose,  satisfied  with  having  seen  and 
heard  this  great  preacher  of  a  new  religion  ;  and  when 
alone  with  the  Roman  procurator  declared  openly  that  Paul 
had  "  done  nothing  worthy  of  death  or  of  bands  "  and  that 

*  Acts  xrvi.  4-8.  t  Acts  xxvi.  9-1 1.         t  Acts  xxvi.  ia-18. 

§  Acts  xxvi.  19-23.    Maclbar,  New  Testament  History,  p.  501. 


ST.    PAUL'S    ARREST    AND    IMPRISONMENTo  31I 

he  "  might  have  been  set  at  liberty,  if  he  had  not  appealed 
to  Caesar."  * 

§  3'  Jcmrney  to  Rome. 

I.  From  Cssarea  to  Malta.  Soon  after  this  dis- 
course of  St.  Paul  before  King  Agrippa,  he  and  several 
prisoners,  together  with  Luke  and  Aristarchus — who  prob- 
ably passed  and  acted  as  the  slaves  of  the  Apostle  during 
the  voyage  f — were  delivered  over  to  the  charge  of  Julius, 
a  centurion  of  "  the  band  Augusta,"  an  expression  the  exact 
meaning  of  which  cannot  be  defined  in  the  present  day. 
This  was  d  courteous  officer,  who  throughout  the  voyage 
surrounded  St.  Paul  with  special  marks  of  regard,  |  and 
this  most  naturally,  for  the  Apostle  was  not  a  man  already 
sentenced  to  death  like  the  other  prisoners,  simply  shipped 
to  Rome  for  amusing  the  people  by  their  death  in  the  arena, 
but  a  Roman  citizen  against  whom  no  charge  had  been 
proved. 

As  in  the  harbor  of  Caesarea  there  was  no  convenient 
ship  about  to  start  for  Rome,  the  centurion  and  his  pris- 
oners set  sail  on  a  vessel  which  was  going  on  a  voyage  along 
the  coasts  of  proconsular  Asia,  and  which  would  therefore 
touch  at  places  where  some  other  ship  bound  for  the  west 
would  most  likely  be  found.  The  first  stopping  place  was 
Sidon,  where  St.  Paul  was  allowed  to  visit  his  friends  and 
receive  their  affectionate  care.  At  the  next  harbor,  that  of 
Myra,§  in  Lycia,  "  they  fell  into  the  great  line  of  the  Egyp- 
tian corn-trade,  and  found  a  corn-ship  of  Alexandria  bound 
for  Italy  ;  and  to  this  vessel  Julius  transferred  his  pris- 
oners." \     After  a  very  slow  voyage,  because  of  the  strong 

•  Acts  xxvi.  24-3*.  t  See  Ramiay,  St.  Paul,  p.  J15  aq. 

X  Cfr.  Acts  xxvii.  3,  31,  43. 

§  Instead  of  Myra,  the  Vulgate,  the  Codex  Alexaudrine  and  the  Sinaitic  have  Lyrtra; 
but  Myra  is  the  correct  reading. 

I  Smith,  New  Testament  Hbtoiy. 


312  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

westerly  winds  which  blew  most  of  the  time,  they  came 
over  against  Cnidus,  a  southwestern  headland  of  Caria,  and 
thence  ran  for  the  east  and  south  coast  of  Crete,  rounding 
the  promontory  of  Salmone.  Then  they  crept  along  the 
southern  coast  of  Crete  until  they  reached  a  place  named 
Fair-Havens,  now  identified  with  a  small  bay  a  few  miles 
east  of  Cape  Matala. 

As  much  precious  time  was  spent  at  Fair-Havens  wait- 
ing for  favorable  winds  and  as  the  season  dangerous  for 
navigation  had  already  set  in,  for  the  great  fasting  day  of 
the  Atonement  in  September  "  was  now  past,"  a  council  was 
held  to  decide  what  was  to  be  done.  St.  Paul  as  an  ex- 
perienced traveller  was  present  and  was  for  wintering  in 
Fair-Havens;  but  naturally  enough,  the  centurion  followed 
the  opposite  view  of  the  pilot  and  of  the  captain  of  the 
ship,  and  set  sail  as  soon  as  a  gently  blowing  south  wind  gave 
promise  of  better  weather.  Unfortunately  there  soon  came 
a  sudden  change  in  the  wind  :  it  blew  violently  from  the 
north,  and,  striking  the  ship,  threatened  to  founder  her  in 
the  open  sea.  This,  however,  was  avoided  by  scudding  be- 
fore the  wind  to  the  southwest,  and  getting  under  the 
shelter  of  the  small  island  of  Cauda  (now  Gozzo). 

Thence  the  ship  was  allowed  to  "  drift  with  her  head  to  the 
north,  steadied  by  a  bow  sail,  making  leeway  proportionate 
to  the  power  of  the  wind  and  waves  on  her  broadsidec"  * 
During  the  whole  time  of  this  furious  storm,  the  particulars 
of  which  are  all  so  graphically  and  so  accurately  described  in 
the  sacred  narrative,  the  presence  of  mind  of  St.  Paul  was 
admirable,  and  his  advice  of  the  greatest  value  both  to  the 
centurion  and  to  his  fellow-passengers.  At  length,  after 
having  been  tossed  about  for  fourteen  days,  the  ship  was 
wrecked  off  the  coast  of  Malta  at  a  spot  to  which  local  tradi- 
tion has  given  the  name  of  St.  Paul's  Bay,  on  the  north- 

*  Ramsay,  St.  Paul,  p.  ijo. 


ST.  Paul's  arrest  and  imprisonment.  313 

eastern  coast  of  the  island  ;  and,  as  the  Apostle  had  foretold, 
the  whole  company  escaped  safely  to  land.* 

2.  Sojourn  in  the  Island  of  Malta.  St.  Paul's  sojourn 
in  the  island  of  Malta,  upon  the  shores  of  which  he  and  his 
companions  had  been  flung,  proved  a  pleasant  and  useful 
one.  From  the  first  the  inhabitants  treated  them  with  great 
kindness,  and  as  time  went  on  the  miracles  which  God 
granted  to  His  Apostle  rendered  Paul's  influence  very  great, 
not  only  with  the  people  and  the  centurion  Julius,  but  also 
with  Publius,  the  Roman  governor  of  Malta,  whose  father 
he  miraculously  cured  of  a  dangerous  fever.  That  he 
availed  himself  of  such  favorable  dispositions  to  preach  the 
Gospel  may  naturally  be  presumed,  but  we  have  no  posi- 
tive information  as  to  the  success  of  his  words  ;  we  are 
simply  told  that  at  the  close  of  his  stay  the  inhabitants  sur- 
rounded him  and  his  companions  with  marks  of  honor,  and 
gratefully  supplied  such  things  as  were  necessary  for  the 
voyage,  f 

3.  From  Malta  to  Rome.  It  was  very  early  in  the 
spring  of  56  a.d.  that,  after  a  three  months'  sojourn  in 
Malta,  the  centurion  Julius  and  those  entrusted  to  his 
charge  set  sail  in  another  corn-ship  of  Alexandria,  which 
had  wintered  in  the  island  and  was  called  the  "  Castor  and 
Pollux."  After  tarrying  three  days  in  Syracuse  they  pro- 
ceeded to  Rhegium  (now  Reggio)  in  the  Sicilian  straits,  and 
then  through  the  Etruscan  sea  to  Puteoli  (now  Puzzuoli), 
the  most  sheltered  part  of  the  bay  of  Naples  and  the  port 
of  the  Alexandrian  vessels.  Here  the  passengers  were 
landed,  and,  with  the  kind  permission  of  the  centurion,  Paul 
and  his  companions,  Luke  and  Aristarchus,  enjoyed  the 
company  of  several  Christians  of  the  place. 

At  the  end  of   a  week,   during  which    the  news  of  the 

*  Acts  xxvii.  For  illustrations  of  the  sacred  narrative,  see  Jas.  Smith,  The  Voyage 
and  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul ;  see  also  Fouard,  Ramsay,  and  Vigouroux,  Le  Nouveau 
Testament  et  les  Ddcouvertes  Archdologiques,  livre  III.,  chap.  viii. 

t  Acts  xxviii.  i-io. 


314  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORYc 

Apostle's  landing  was  sent  to  Rome,  some  150  miles 
distant,  Julius  and  his  prisoners  commenced  their  journey 
by  land  along  the  Appian  Way.  The  Roman  Christians, 
who  had  heard  of  St.  Paul's  approach,  went  to  meet  him, 
some  of  them,  as  far  as  the  small  town  of  "  Appii  Forum," 
about  43  miles  from  Rome,  and  others  as  far  as  the 
*'  Three  Taverns,"  a  hamlet  10  miles  nearer  the  capital  of 
the  world.  This  twofold  mark  of  respect  and  affection 
from  the  faithful  of  Rome  greatly  touched  and  encouraged 
the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  who  soon  afterwards  entered 
the  city  which  he  had  so  long  desired  to  contemplate 
(March  56,  a.d.).  * 

*  Acts  zxviii.  x^-ift. 


SYNOPSIS   OF   CHAPTER   XXVII. 
The  Last  Years  of  St.  Paul. 


I. 

First  Roman 
Imprison- 
ment: 


fi.  The  City  of  Rome  described. 
J  2.  Jews  and  Christians  in  Rome, 
j  3.  St.    Paul's  Release  after  a  Two  Years'  Im- 
t  prisonment. 


II. 

Last  Jour 

NEYS  OF  St 

Paul: 


2.  In 
I         I 


^"^-    (visit 


to  Great  Britain   universally 

rejected. 

to  Spain  very  probable. 


the 
East: 


Order  of  places  visited,  uncertain. 
Second  arrest  probably  at  Ephesus. 


IIL 

Second  Im- 
prisonment 
AND  Death: 


2. 


r  Much  more  severe  than  the  first. 
TmVisonJ  Acquittal  in  first  trial. 
__.  Sentence    of    death    11 

I      trial. 


I.    Second 


ment: 


in    second 


Death  of  St. 
Paul: 


Outside  the  city. 
Date   of   martyrdom  (year  anci 
month). 


IV. 

St.     Paul's 
Personal  Ap- 
pearance AND 
Character. 


1.  Personal  Appearance  of  St.  Paul 

2.  Character  of  St.  Paul. 


315 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

THE    LAST    YEARS   OF    ST.    PAUL. 

§  I.  First  Roman  Imprisonment. 

I.  The  City  of  Rome  Described.    At  the  time  of  St. 

Paul's  arrival  in  Rome  the  great  imperial  city  had  already 
lost  much  of  its  republican  simplicity,  and  was  on  the  eve  of 
still  greater  changes,  not  indeed  as  regards  the  main  fea- 
tures of  its  ground,  but  as  regards  the  general  appearance  of 
its  private  and  public  buildings.  Now,  as  in  bygone  ages, 
the  part  of  the  city  built  in  the  plain  watered  by  the  Tiber 
was  on  a  much  lower  level  than  either  its  quarters  on  the 
three  detached  hills  (the  Capitoline,  the  Palatine  and  the 
Aventine),  which  arose  near  the  river,  or  those  gradually 
built  on  the  four  ridges  (the  Cselian,  the  Esquiline,  the 
Viminal  and  the  Quirinal),  which  ascended  beyond  to  the 
east  and  united  together  in  the  higher  ground  on  which 
the  praetorian  camp  was  now  situated.  But  since  the  cap- 
ture of  Corinth  (146  B.C.),  which  supplied  Rome  with  so 
many  masterpieces  of  Grecian  art,  and  especially  since  the 
civil  war  between  Caesar  and  Pompey  (49  B.C.),  when  so 
many  successful  generals  or  greedy  proconsuls  and  praetors 
brought  home  plunder  and  wealth,  the  city  had  rapidly  lost 
much  of  its  primitive,  simple  and  unadorned  appearance. 
Since  Augustus,  in  particular,  a  new  era  had  opened  for  im- 
perial Rome:  his  example  in  erecting  splendid  public  build- 
ings had  been  closely  imitated  by  his  successors  Tiberius 
and  Claudius,  and  within  a  few  years  Nero,  the  Caesar  of 
the  time,  was  to   profit  by  the  great  fire  under  his  reign  to 

31& 


THE    LAST    YEARS    OF    ST.    PAUL.  317 

inaugurate  those  improvements  and  embellishments  of  the 
later  emperors  which  made  of  Rome  the  finest  city  in  the 
world.* 

The  population  of  Rome  under  Nero,  though  very  vari- 
ously estimated,  amounted  probably  to  one  million,  half  of 
which  only  were  free  citizens.  The  great  bulk  of  these — 
belonging  to  every  nationality  and  religion — were  poor  and 
lived  in  crowded  lodging-houses,  while  a  small  and  most 
wealthy  aristocracy  dwelt  in  splendid  palaces,  attended  by 
countless  slaves.  Indeed,  it  would  have  been  difficult  to 
imagine  a  greater  contrast  between  the  luxury  of  the  few 
and  the  misery  of  the  many,  for  in  ancient  Rome  the  ex- 
travagance of  the  wealthy  classes  did  not  even  prodvxe,  as 
in  a  modern  city,  a  general  diffusion  of  work  among  the  free 
population,  because  trade  in  its  various  branches,  and  also 
liberal  professions,  were  entrusted  to  slaves. 

2.  Jews  and  Christians  in  Rome.  Living  in  the  midst 
of  the  Roman  population,  or  rather  settled  mostly  in  the 
portion  of  the  city  now  named  the  "  Trastevere,"  or  district 
beyond  the  Tiber,  was  a  large  Jewish  community,  the  first  be- 
ginnings of  which  went  back  at  least  to  the  year  6s  B.C.,  when 
Pompey  brought  many  captives  from  Judaea  to  grace  his  tri- 
umph. Soon  manumitted,  this  Jewish  element  had  grown 
rapidly  in  numbers  and  influence  under  the  patronage  of 
Julius  Caesar  and  of  Augustus,  and  although  the  Jews  had 
been  expelled  from  Rome  in  47  a.d.,  by  an  edict  of  Claudius, 
they  had  soon  regained  ground  under  Nero.  They  had  no 
less  than  nine  synagogues  in  the  city,  had  secured  the  rec- 
ognition and  toleration  of  their  peculiar  customs  to  which 
here,  as  elsewhere,  they  showed  themselves  strictly  faithful, 
and  despite  the  popular  hatred  and  contempt  in  which  they 
were  held,  had  greatly  influenced  in  favor  of  a  more  reason- 
able creed  and  purer  worship  many  men  and  women  dis- 
gusted with  heathenism.     Finally  their  expectation  of  the 

♦  Cfr.  CoNYBEARK  and  Howson,  Life  and  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  chap.  xxiv. 


3l8  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

very  near  coming  of  the  Messias  was  also  well  known  to 
their  pagan  fellow-citizens,  and  in  so  far  concurred  to  pre- 
pare them  for  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  in  Jesus. 

It  is  quite  natural  to  suppose  that  this  announcement  of 
the  Gospel  was  made  in  Rome  not  long  after  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  seeing  that  among  those  who  witnessed  the  won- 
ders of  that  great  day,  recorded  in  the  second  chapter  of  the 
book  of  the  Acts,  there  were  Roman  strangers,  both  Jews 
and  proselytes  ;  and  we  know  for  certain  from  St.  Paul's 
Epistle  to  the  Romans,  *  that  for  a  considerable  time  before 
his  arrival  in  Rome  a  large  and  flourishing  Christian  com- 
munity existed  in  that  city.  It  was  also  probably  because 
the  faithful  had  greatly  multiplied  in  the  Roman  capital  and 
had  thereby  occasioned  some  hostile  movements  on  the  part 
of  the  Jews  against  them,  that  Claudius  published  the  edict 
above  referred  to,  and  of  which  Suetonius  f  says,  "  Judaeos 
impulsore  Chresto  assidue  tumultuantes  Roma  expulit."| 

3.  St.  Paul's  Release  After  a  Two  Years'  Im- 
prisonment. The  centurion  Julius,  upon  arriving  at  Rome, 
naturally  delivered  without  delay  Paul  and  the  other  prison- 
ers to  the  praetorian  prefect,  who  was  at  that  time  the  illus- 
trious Burrhus,  and  who  showed  to  the  Apostle  all  the  in- 
dulgence a  prisoner  could  receive.  The  Apostle  was  there- 
fore allowed  to  dwell  under  military  custody  in  his  own 
hired  house,  with  full  permission  to  receive  all  that  came  to 
him.  Without  delay  he  availed  himself  of  that  liberty  to 
have  an  interview  with  the  chief  of  the  Jews,  to  vindicate  his 
reputation,  and  at  the  same  time  to  call  forcibly  their  atten- 
tion to  passages  of  Holy  Writ,  which  told  conclusively  for 
the  Messiahship  of  Jesus.  The  result  of  this  conference  was 
apparently  not  very  successful,  and  we  are  not  told  whether 
any  such  was  held  between  Paul  and  the  Roman  Jews  dur- 

*  Cfr.  Rom.  i.  7,  8;  xvi.  5  sq.  t  Claudius,  chap.  xxv. 

t  For  the  exact  meaning  of  the  word  "  Chrestus,"  see  Crblier,  Fouard,  Sanday, 
etc. 


THE   LAST    YEARS    OF    ST.    PAUL.  319 

ing  the  "  two  whole  years "  which  the  Apostle  spent 
awaiting  the  judgment  of  the  emperor.  During  this  time, 
also,  he  preached  freely  the  Gospel  to  all  comers,  and  wrote 
the  two  epistles  to  the  Colossians  and  Ephesians,  which  so 
closely  resemble  each  other  ;  that  to  the  Philippians  ;  and 
finally  the  short  but  exquisitely  delicate  note  to  Philemon. 

As  the  narrative  of  the  book  of  the  Acts  ends  with  the 
mention  of  St.  Paul's  two  years  of  imprisonment,  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  say  what  became  of  him  afterwards.  Some  have 
supposed  that  this  period  closed  with  St.  Paul's  trial  and 
death,  and  have  urged  two  principal  arguments  in  support 
of  that  view  :  (i)  the  silence  of  the  writer  of  the  book  of 
the  Acts,  who  must  have  known  of  such  a  release  if  an  actual 
fact,  who,  since  he  speaks  of  the  two  years'  imprisonment, 
had  a  natural  opportunity  to  mention  also  the  vindication 
of  the  Apostle  even  at  the  tribunal  of  Caesar,  and  who,  in- 
deed, should  have  mentioned  it,  because  such  an  acquittal 
would  have  constituted  a  magnificent  climax  in  the  long 
series  of  instances  which  he  gives  of  the  favorable  treatment 
accorded  to  St.  Paul  by  the  Roman  authorities  ;  (2)  the  si- 
lence of  all  the  apologetic  writers  of  the  end  of  the  first  and 
of  the  first  part  of  the  second  centuries,  who  used  every 
means  to  prove  that  the  Christian  religion  was  no  enemy  to 
state  and  society,  and  yet  nowhere  referred  to  a  release  of 
St.  Paul,  that  is,  to  a  striking  argument  in  favor  of  their  po- 
sition, if  such  a  release  was  known  to  have  occurred.* 

To  these  negative  arguments — and  scholars  who  deny  St. 
Paul's  liberation  at  this  time  have  only  such  to  offer — the 
great  majority  of  scholars,  Catholic  and  Protestant  alike, 
reply  by  the  positive  testimonies  of  a  tradition  sufficiently 
early  and  explicit  in  favor  of  a  successful  termination  of 
St.  Paul's  first  imprisonment.!     These  same  scholars  appeal 

•Cfr.  MacGiffert,  The  Apostolic  Age,  p.  417  sq. 

+  Cfr.,  for  instance,  St.  Clement  of  Rome,  i  Epist.  to  Corinthians,  chap,  v.;  Mura- 
TORi's  Canon,  in  its  account  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles ;  Eusebius,  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory, book  II.,  chap.  22,  etc. 


320  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

also,  and,  according  to  our  mind,  rightly,  to  the  Pastoral 
Epistles,*  which  contain  many  historical  facts  which  cannot 
be  placed  before  any  portion  of  St.  Paul's  life  previous  i;o 
or  during  his  first  imprisonment;  for  even  supposing,  for 
argument's  sake,  that  these  epistles  were  not  written  by  the 
Apostle  to  whom  tradition  ascribes  them,  yet  their  very 
early  composition  and  ascription  to  St.  Paul  argue  power- 
fully in  favor  of  his  release  at  this  time.  To  these  positive 
arguments  it  may  be  added  here  by  way  of  confirmation 
that  if  it  is  strange — as  every  one  must  grant — that  St.  Luke 
should  not  have  recorded  St.  Paul's  release  if  it  actually 
occurred,  much  more  strange  still  must  it  appear  that,  if 
the  Apostle  was  executed  after  his  two  years'  imprisonment, 
the  writer  of  the  book  of  the  Acts  should  not  have  men- 
tioned the  unsuccessful  end  of  the  trial  and  the  death  of  his 
great  hero.  Again,  as  regards  the  silence  of  the  early  apol- 
ogetic writers  above  referred  to,  it  seems  that  the  objection 
based  on  it  loses  sight  of  the  fact  that  these  apologists 
could  not  appeal  to  the  release  of  St.  Paul  as  an  argument 
in  favor  of  Christianity  without  giving  ground  for  the  retort 
that  in  the  person  of  that  very  same  Paul  the  cause  of  the 
new  religion  had  been  ultimately  condemned  after  a  more 
thorough  examination  of  its  principles  and  character  ;  it  is 
therefore  possible  to  account  satisfactorily  for  their  silence 
otherwise  than  by  denying  a  first  release  of  the  Apostle.  Fi- 
nally, it  should  be  noticed  that  if  we  take  into  account  the 
friendly  testimony  of  Julius,  the  centurion,  the  favorable 
reports  of  Felix,  the  former,  and  of  Festus,  the  actual,  proc- 
urator of  Judaea,  the  liberation  of  St.  Paul  appears  much 
more  likely  than  his  execution  at  this  time.f 

*  I  and  2  to  Timothy,  Epistle  to  Titus. 

t  Cfr.  FouARD,  St.  Paul,  Ses  demiferes  Annies,  chap,  v.;  Conybbarb  and  Howson, 
;hap.  xxvii. 


THE  LAST  YEARS  OF  ST.  PAUL.  32 1 

§  2.  Last  Journeys  of  St.  FauL 

1.  In  the  West.  The  greatest  obscurity  rests  on  the 
journeys  undertaken  by  St.  Paul  between  his  first  and  sec- 
ond Roman  imprisonment  ;  yet,  as  he  had  long  cherished 
the  project  of  evangelizing  the  West,  it  may  well  be  sup- 
posed that  not  long  after  his  release  he  carried  this  into 
effect.  Some  Protestant  writers  of  this  century  have  en- 
deavored to  prove  that  during  these  Western  travels  the 
Apostle  went  to  England  and  implanted  faith  in  that  island, 
but,  whatever  the  motives  which  suggested  this  supposition, 
it  is  beyond  doubt  that  this  visit,  as  Lightfoot  puts  it,*  pos- 
sesses "neither  evidence  nor  probability,"  and  in  point  of 
fact  this  journey  to  Great  Britain  is  now  universally  given 
up.  Not  so  with  a  voyage  to  Spain,  which  St.  Paul  had  pur- 
posed to  make  after  passing  through  Rome.f  St.  Clement 
of  Rome,  a  writer  of  the  first  century,  and  perhaps  one  of 
the  disciples  of  St.  Paul,!  refers  probably  to  that  voyage 
when  he  says  that  the  Apostle  "  went  to  the  extremity  of 
the  West,"§  and  the  Canon  of  Muratori,  less  than  a  century 
afterwards,  speaks  explicitly  "  of  the  departure  of  Paul  from 
Rome  into  Spain."  True  there  are  no  memorials  of  the 
missionary  labors  of  the  great  Apostle  in  that  country,  but 
this  should  not  surprise  us,  since,  on  the  one  hand,  we  have 
only  a  few  facts  in  Spanish  history  referable  to  the  period 
before  the  fourth  century,  and  since,  on  the  other  hand, 
there  is  likewise  no  traditional  trace  of  his  work  in  other 
districts  in  which,  however,  he  certainly  labored.  It  has 
been  surmised  that  his  stay  in  Spain  was  of  about  two  years, 
but  in  our  utter  lack  of  evidence  in  this  regard  it  is-better 
to  refrain  from  conjecture.|| 

2.  In  the  East.  Much  obscurity  surrounds  likewise  the 
last  journeys  of  St.  Paul  in  the  East,  although  in  connection 

*  St.  Clement.         +  Rom.  xv.  24,  28.         %  Cfr.  Philip,  iv.  3.  §1  Cor.  v. 

I  MouLB,  On  Romans,  p.  23. 


322  OUTLINES   OF   NEW   TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

with  them  the  Pastoral  Epistles  supply  some  useful  data. 
From  Spain  it  does  not  seem  that  he  would  have  any 
special  difficulty  in  reaching  the  churches  he  had  formerly 
founded  in  Greece,  Macedonia,  and  Asia  Minor,  for  there 
was  at  that  time  "  constant  commercial  intercourse  between 
the  East  and  Massilia  (the  modern  Marseilles)  ;  and  Massilia 
was  in  daily  communication  with  the  Iberic  peninsula."* 
He  naturally  redeemed  the  promise  he  had  made  soon  to 
visit  Philippi ;  f  then,  he  might  easily  cross  to  Troas,  where 
he  tells  us  that  he  left  his  cloak,  books,  and  parchments,! 
and  proceed  to  Ephesus,  that  great  capital  of  proconsular 
Asia,  which  he  seems  to  have  also  visited  when  travelling 
westward,  as  we  learn  from  his  words  to  Timothy,  "  I 
desired  thee  to  remain  at  Ephesus,  when  I  went  into  Mace- 
donia." §  When  in  Ephesus  he  would  probably  visit  the 
church  of  Colossa,  according  to  his  promise  to  Philemon.  || 
From  Colossa  he  might  proceed  to  Miletus,  where  he  left 
Trophimus  sick,!"  and  from  Miletus  sail  to  the  island  of 
Crete,  where  he  left  Titus  that  he  "  should  set  in  order  the 
things  that  are  wanting."  **  In  his  epistle  to  Titus  he  men- 
tions his  resolve  to  winter  in  Nicopolis,  probably  the  city  of 
that  name  in  Epirus,  in  which  case  he  would  go  to  Corinth 
and  thence  proceed  to  Nicopolis.ft 

Such  are  the  principal  Eastern  cities  and  places  which  the 
student  of  New  Testament  history  may  feel  pretty  sure 
were  visited  by  the  great  Apostle  before  his  second  Roman 
imprisonment,  but  the  order  in  which  they  have  been  de- 
scribed, although  a  plausible  one,  because  founded  on  all 
our  available  data,  is  to  a  very  large  extent  conjectural.  It 
is  also  very  likely  that  he  went  through  many  other  places, 
particularly  of  Asia  Minor,  but  we  have  no  means  of  deter- 
mining  which   were   those  favored   spots.     The   principal 

*  CoNYBBARE  and  HowsoN,  chap,  xxvii.  t  Cfr.  Philip,  ii.  34- 

t  2  Tim.  IV.  13.  §  I  Tim.  i.  3.  B  Phil.  22. 

i  2  Tim.  iv.  90.  **  Titus  i.  5.  tt  Titus  iu.  la. 


THE    LAST    YEARS    OF    ST,    PAUL.  323 

reason  for  admitting  that  Ephesus  was  the  place  of  St. 
Paul's  arrest  is  that  Alexander,  a  coppersmith  of  that  city, 
appears  as  the  principal  accuser  of  the  Apostle  after  the 
magistrates  had  forwarded  him  to  Rome.*  Moreover, 
among  the  ruins  of  Ephesus  a  tower  is  still  pointed  out 
bearing  the  name  of  St.  Paul's  prison,  and  in  which  he  is 
supposed  to  have  been  detained  until  he  was  sent  to  Rome  ; 
but,  of  course,  not  much  value  can  be  ascribed  to  that 
tradition. 

§  3.  Second  Imprisonment  and  Death, 

I.  Second  Imprisonment  of  St.  Paul.  We  have,  it 
is  true,  no  positive  information  about  the  exact  reason  for 
which  the  great  Apostle  was  again  sent  to  Rome  for  trial. 
Yet  it  may  be  supposed  with  a  fair  amount  of  probability 
that  when  tried  in  Ephesus  and  when  about  to  be  con- 
demned especially  because  teaching  a  religion  whose  tenets 
implied  treason  against  Caesar,  he  as  a  Roman  citizen  threw 
in  an  appeal  from  that  inferior  tribunal  to  that  of  Caesar, 
and  was  in  consequence  again  forwarded  as  a  prisoner  to 
the  capital  of  the  empire.  \ 

It  is  naturally  assumed  that  this  second  imprisonment  was 
more  severe  than  the  first.  A  tradition  which  goes  back 
only  to  the  fifth  century,  and  which  is  found  for  the  first  time 
in  the  interpolated  Acts  of  the  holy  martyrs  Processus  and 
Martinianus,  speaks  of  the  Mamertine  prison,  at  the  foot  of 
the  Capitoline  Hill,  as  the  dungeon  into  which  St.  Paul  was 
now  thrown.  This  tradition  is  perhaps  grounded  on  fact ; 
if  so,  it  must  be  understood  to  refer  to  the  upper  part  of 
that  prison,  for  in  it  alone  the  Apostle,  not  yet  entirely 
debarred  from  intercourse,  could  see  the  friends  who  had 
the  courage  to  come  and  visit  him.J;  However  this  may  be, 
the  excellent  praetorian  prefect  Burrhus  had  died  early  in 

*  Cfr.  Acts  xix.  33,  34 ;  2  Tm.  iv.  14,  15.  t  Cfr.  3  Tm.  i.  xi,  12. 

X  2  Tim.  i.  xs,  16. 


324  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

62  A.D.  and  had  been  replaced  by  Tigellinus  and  Fenius 
Rufus  ;  the  centurion  Julius  and  the  procurator  Festus 
could  no  longer  intervene  in  behalf  of  Paul,  so  that  it  is 
only  natural  to  suppose  that  he  was  kept  in  close  confine- 
ment, instead  of  being  allowed,  as  formerly,  to  dwell  in  his 
own  hired  lodging  and  receive  all  comers.* 

With  the  spring  opened  the  regular  term  for  trials,  and 
as  by  this  time  accusers  and  documents  had  reached  Rome 
St.  Paul's  case  came  up  in  due  order  before  the  imperial 
tribunal.  It  is  probable  that  at  this  preliminary  trial  he 
was  brought  before  the  emperor  himself.  Nero  still  heard 
in  person  appeals  in  criminal  causes,  and  in  2  Tim.  (iv.  17) 
St.  Paul  says  that  he  "  was  delivered  out  of  the  mouth  of 
the  lion,"  a  metaphor  which  some  years  before  had  been 
applied  to  the  Emperor  Tiberius,  when  his  death  was  made 
known  to  King  Agrippa  I.,  by  his  freedman  Marsyas.f  It 
is  indeed  wonderful  that  in  this  first  trial  the  Apostle  was 
not  sentenced  to  death,  for  while  a  certain  Alexander,  a 
coppersmith,  was  now  a  most  implacable  prosecutor,  Paul 
was  in  this,  his  sorriest  need,  deserted  by  all.  But  if  no  man 
stood  with  him,  as  he  tells  us,  the  Lord  stood  by  him,  gave 
special  power  to  his  words,  and  delivered  him  out  of  the 
mouth  of  the  lion.  The  Apostle  was  remanded  to  his  prison, 
and  there  waited  for  a  second  trial,  which  he  rightly  con- 
jectured would  lead  to  his  execution.^ 

However  little  we  know  for  certain  about  St.  Paul's  first 
trial,  we  know  still  less  concerning  the  second  one,  beyond 
the  assured  fact  that  it  ended  with  his  condemnation,  and 
the  probability  that  this  time  the  emperor  did  not  preside  over 
the  tribunal  in  person  (as  may  be  inferred  from  the  words 
of  St.  Clement  of  Rome,  Corint.  V.);  all  the  rest,  such  as 
the  grounds  for  condemnation,  the  quality  of  the  accusers, 

*  Cfr.  2T1M.  i.  17;  ii.  9. 

t  JosBPHUs,  Antiq.  of  the  Jews,  book  XVIII.,  chap,  vi.,  §  lo. 
X  2  Tim.  iv.  14, 18.    For  much  useful  legal  information  in  reference  to  this  first  trial 
see  Lbwin,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  377-381. 


THE   LAST    YEARS   OF   ST.    PAUL.  325 

etc.,  is  involved  in  deep  obscurity.  It  may  well  be  sup- 
posed, however,  that  the  undaunted  champion  of  Christ 
openly  professed  his  faith,  protesting  at  the  same  time  that 
he  had  not  violated  any  law  found  in  the  statute  book  ;  * 
but  as  a  Christian  he  was  probably  pronounced  guilty  of 
treason  against  Caesar,  and  as  a  Roman  citizen  he  was 
sentenced  to  decapitation. 

2.  Death  of  St.  Paul.  The  unanimous  account  of  St. 
Paul's  death  which  has  been  handed  down  to  us  is  that  he 
was  beheaded  outside  Rome,  on  the  road  to  Ostia,  at  a 
place  called  Aquse  Salvias,  and  now  known  as  Tre  Fontane 
(the  Three  Fountains),  about  2  miles  from  the  city.  On 
the  one  hand,  this  account  agrees  well  with  the  usage  of 
that  time,  viz.,  that  the  decapitation  by  the  sword  was 
oftentimes  inflicted  at  some  distance  from  Rome  on  those 
prisoners  whose  death  might  attract  too  much  notice  in  the 
capital.  On  the  other  hand,  it  seems  to  point  to  a  date 
when  Nero's  edict  of  a  bloody  persecution  against  the 
Christians  had  not  yet  been  published,  rather  than  to  a 
time  when  that  edict  had  been  already  carried  into  effect, 
and  when,  consequently,  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  would 
probably  have  been  beheaded  within  the  walls  by  the  cen- 
turion in  charge  of  the  execution.  In  so  far,  then,  this 
unanimous  account  offers  a  confirmation  of  what  our 
chronological  calculations  would  naturally  lead  us  to  admit, 
viz.,  that  St.  Paul's  martyrdom  occurred  sometime  before 
the  night  of  19th  of  July,  a.d.  64,  on  which  began  the  burn- 
ing of  Rome,  which  soon  occasioned  Nero's  ferocious  edict 
against  the  innocent  followers  of  Christ. 

This  date  is  indeed  a  little  earlier — by  two  or  three  years 
— than  the  dates  66  or  67,  usually  mentioned  in  reference 
to  St.  Paul's  second  trial  and  death,  but  it  should  be  borne 
in  mind  (i)  that  there  is  no  year  clearly  defined  by  early 
tradition   on  this  point ;  (2)  that  the  divergence  of  three 

*  Lbwin,  vol.  ii.,  p.  400. 


326  OUTLINES  OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

years  between  the  date  admitted  here  and  the  one  more 
commonly  received  (67  a.d.)  is  to  be  referred  to  the  fact 
that,  with  such  Catholic  scholars  as  Patrizi  and  Kellner, 
and  other  prominent  writers  of  our  day,  we  think  that 
Festus  was  appointed  governor  of  Judaea  as  early  as  55  a.d. 
As  to  the  month  of  June,  in  which  since  the  fourth  century 
the  Western  churches  have  celebrated  the  principal  feast  of 
St.  Paul,  together  with  that  of  St.  Peter,  it  fits  in  well  enough 
with  what  has  been  said  above  in  connection  with  the  hold- 
ing of  the  trial  of  the  Apostle  in  the  spring  of  the  year  64 
A.D.,  and  may  therefore  be  retained,  although  some — among 
whom  Duchesne,  Les  Origines  Chr^tiennes — have  sus- 
pected that  the  29th  of  June  is  simply  an  anniversary  of 
the  common  translation  of  the  relics  of  Peter  and  Paul 
which  took  place  in  258  a.d.* 


§  4.  St  PauFs  Personal  Appearance  and  Character, 

I.  Personal  Appearance.  It  is  impossible  to  describe 
with  anything  like  fulness  and  accuracy  the  personal  appear- 
ance of  St.  Paul,  for  our  sources  of  information  are  both 
scanty  and  late.  Yet  as  the  passing  descriptions  of  the 
great  Apostle  which  have  come  down  to  us  agree  in  several 
particulars,  both  with  one  another  and  with  early  pictures 
and  mosaics,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  to  some  extent,  at 
least,  they  give  us  correct  data  respecting  St.  Paul's  coun- 
tenance, f  They  all  agree  in  speaking  of  his  small 
stature,  X  his  long  face  with  high  forehead,  aquiline  nose, 
close  and  prominent  eyebrows.  Other  features  mentioned 
are  partial  baldness,  gray  beard,  a  clear  complexion,  and  a 

*  Cfr.  Chillier,  Auteurs  Sacr^s,  tome  i.,  p.  219,  footnote  9,  Trochon,  Introduc- 
tion, tome  iii.,  p.  297,  footnote  5  ;  Lewin,  St.  Paul,  vol.  ii.,  p.  405,  footnote  163. 

t  The  position  assumed  here  is  confirmed  by  the  portrait  of  St.  Paul  on  a  very  early 
medal  discovered  by  Boldetti  in  the  cemetery  of  Priscilla  (see  Northcotb  and  Brown' 
LOW,  Roma  Sotterranea). 

X  Cfr.  2  Cor.  X.  10-14. 


THE    LAST   YEARS   OF   ST.    PAUL.  327 

winning  manner.  *  It  may  also  be  inferred  from  a  passage 
of  the  book  of  the  Acts  (xiv.  11)  that  there  was  in  his  face 
a  quick  and  animated  expression,  for  we  read  that  the  inhab- 
itants of  Lystra,  surmising  Barnabas  to  be  Jupiter,  probably 
from  his  majestic  stature,  took  Paul  as  the  eloquent  and 
active  Mercury.  Again,  many  scholars  consider  it  probable 
that  the  chronic  and  painful  infirmity  of  which  the  Apostle 
speaks  repeatedly  f  was  a  severe  inflammation  of  the  eyes, 
and  appeal  with  great  plausibility  to  several  passages  of 
Holy  Writ,  such  as  Galat.  vi.  11  ;  iv.  15  ;  Acts  xxiii.  2-5,  as 
bearing  them  out.  Indeed  some,  taking  into  account  the 
effects  of  ophthalmia  in  Eastern  countries,  go  even  so  far  as 
to  think  that  at  times  his  eyes  must  have  presented  an  un- 
sightly and  almost  loathsome  appearance.  J 

Finally,  St.  Paul  ever  wore  the  Jewish  garb,  and  as  this 
resembled  closely  the  Egyptian  dress,  it  is  not  surprising 
that,  at  the  time  of  his  arrest  in  Jerusalem,  the  tribune 
Lysias  should  have  supposed  that  he  was  that  Egyptian 
impostor  who  had  hitherto  foiled  all  pursuit. 

2.  Character  of  St.  Paul.  Of  all  the  men  mentioned 
in  the  Bible,  none  has  been  more  justly,  more  constantly 
and  more  universally  praised  than  the  Apostle  of  the  Gen- 
tiles. His  character  is  made  known  to  us  in  almost  all 
its  aspects  by  the  narrative  of  the  book  of  the  Acts  and  by 
his  own  writings,  and  yet  there  is  hardly  one  feature  of  it 
which  we  would  feel  not  to  deserve  our  full  admiration.  Of 
course,  we  can  point  out  here  only  the  principal  traits  of  the 
man,  of  the  Christian,  and  of  the  Apostle. 

Born  in  Tarsus  of  Jewish  parentage,  he  was  deeply  at- 
tached to  the  city  of  his  birth  and  to  the  race  from  which  he 
sprang ;§  but  this  did  not  prevent  him  from  prizing  his  right 

*  See  FouARD,  St.  Peter,  chap,  vii.,  p.  137,  footnote  3  ;  Lbwin,  St.  Paul,  vol.  ii., 
p.  410  sq. 
t  I  Cor.  XV.  31 ;  2  Cor.  iv.  10 ;  Galat.  iv.  13,  14. 
%  FouARD,  St.  Peter,  p.  136 ;  Lbwin,  St.  Paul,  vol.  i.,  p.  186  sq. 
§  Acts  xzi.  39. 


328  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

of  Roman  citizenship  and  desiring  to  behold  other  cities 
besides  his  native  place,  and  even  besides  Jerusalem,  the 
metropolis  of  Judaism  and  of  early  Christianity.  Frank, 
sincere,  noble-minded,  he  could  not  help  feeling  indignant 
at  the  sight  of  everything  low,  insincere  or  selfish,*  and  with 
his  keen  sense  of  what  was  fair  and  just,  he  promptly 
resented  anything  that  looked  like  a  denial  of  justice  f  or 
an  underhand  interference  with  his  rights.  J  No  one  can 
help  admiring  his  singleness  of  purpose,  his  strong  will  and 
his  unflagging  energy,  so  wonderfully  combined  with  tact 
and  courtesy.  §  Endowed  with  a  deeply  affectionate  heart, 
he  vividly  appreciated  whatever  kindness  and  service  were 
shown  to  him  ;  ||  keenly  felt  the  ingratitude  or  desertion  of 
his  friends  or  fellow-workers,*[[  and  evinced  the  liveliest  in- 
terest and  tenderest  love  for  his  faithful  friends.**  Finally, 
to  a  quick,  penetrating  and  versatile  mind  was  joined  in 
him  a  wonderful  power  of  adaptability  to  the  most  varied 
circumstances  of  time  and  place. 

Of  course  all  the  precious  natural  qualities  of  mind  and 
heart  which  may  be  noticed  in  Saul  were  raised  to  a 
higher  order  of  perfection  when,  shaking  off  the  yoke  cf 
Judaism  with  its  exclusiveness  and  that  of  Pharisaism  with 
its  bigotry,  he  "  put  on  Christ  Jesus,"  the  Redeemer  of  all 
nations.  Furthermore,  new  virtues  were  implanted  in  his 
soul,  and  under  the  influence  of  divine  grace,  ever  fruitful 
in  him,  ft  developed  into  a  Christian  life  the  perfection  of 
which  can  hardly  be  imagined,  since  it  made  of  Paul  so 
faithful  a  copy  of  Christ  that  he  could  write  under  the  in- 
spiration of  the  Holy  Ghost  :  **  Be  ye  followers  of  me,  as  I 
also  am  of  Christ ;  "  H  and  again  :  "  I  live,  now  not  I,  but 
Christ  liveth  in  me."§§     Great  indeed  was  his  compassion 

*  Cfr.  Acts  xiii.  8  sq.;  xv.  38  sq.;  Galat.  ii.  11  sq.       t  Acts  xxiii.  1-3  ;  xxv.  9-11. 
t  Galat.  ii.  3-5.  §  Galat.  ii.  2  sq.;  Acts  xxi.  39  sq.;  xxvi.  24-29. 

II  2  Tim.  i.  i6-i8  ;  Rom.  xvi.  2.  ^  2  Tim.  i.  15  ;  iv.  9. 

**  Philip,  ii.  27  ;  Rom.  xvi.  13,  etc.         tt  i  Cor.  xv.  10.  t!^  i  Cor.  xi.  i. 

§5  Galat.  ii.  20. 


THE  Last  years  of  st.  paul.  329 

for  the  poor,  his  forbearance  towards  his  enemies,  and  his 
condescension  towards  the  weak  ;  greater  still  were  his 
humility,  which  made  him  look  upon  himself  as  less  than  the 
least  of  the  believers,  and  his  love  of  bodily  mortification 
and  of  the  cross,  having  constantly  before  his  mind  the  un- 
certainty of  salvation  and  the  absolute  necessity  of  union  to 
Christ's  sufferings  here  below  to  share  in  Christ's  glory  here- 
after. But  what  was  foremost  in  his  thoughts  and  in  his 
affections  was  the  love  of  the  Son  of  God,  ''  Who  had  loved 
him  and  had  given  Himself  up  for  him."  It  was  this  love 
of  Christ  which  was  the  great  stimulus  of  his  entire  life,* 
which  caused  him  to  challenge  all  creatures  to  be  able  to 
separate  him  from  Christ,  the  supreme  object  of  his  affec- 
tions,! to  long  for  death  in  order  to  be  forever  with  Christ;  I 
to  be  ready  to  die  for  the  sake  of  His  name  ;  §  and  finally, 
to  exclaim  :  *'  If  any  one  love  not  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
let  him  be  anathema  !  "  || 

But  it  is  especially  when  we  consider  St.  Paul  as  an  apos- 
tle that  we  are  struck  with  admiration  for  his  lofty  charac- 
ter. Through  the  purest  love  for  God  and  for  souls  ^  he 
looks  upon  himself  as  under  obligation  to  preach  the  Gospel 
to  all :  "  to  the  Greeks  and  to  the  barbarians,  to  the  wise 
and  to  the  unwise,"  to  the  Jews  and  to  the  Gentiles.  To 
fulfil  this  obligation  he  sacrifices  every  other  purpose  in  life, 
gives  up  all  that  he  has,  and  is  ready  to  lay  down  his  very 
life.  For  this  same  end  he  undertakes  the  most  dangerous 
journeys  by  sea  and  by  land,  exposes  himself  to  all  kinds  of 
persecutions,  sufferings  and  privations,  becomes  "  to  the 
Jews  a  Jew,  that  he  may  gain  the  Jews,"  and  '*  makes 
himself  the  servant  of  all,  that  he  may  gain  the  more,"  etc. 
He  is  full  of  the  tenderest  love  for  his  weak  converts,** 
knows  how  to  encourage  them  either  by  praise  or  by  re- 
proach, brings  down  to  the  level   of  their  intelligence  the 

*2  Cor.  v.  14.  t  Rom.  viii.  35-39;  Philip,  iii.  20.  t  Philip,  i.  23. 

§  Acts  xxi.  13.  N  i  Cor.  xvi.  22.         U  2  Cor.  xii.  14.  **  Galat.  iv.  19. 


33©  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORYc 

deepest  mysteries  which  have  been  revealed  to  him,  and  for 
their  sake  does  not  fear  to  grapple  with  the  most  difficult 
problems  of  the  day.  His  disinterestedness  in  pursuing  the 
work  of  the  ministry  is  probably  greater  than  that  of  any 
apostolic  teacher  of  the  time,  and  his  ambition  to  win  hearts 
to  the  loving  service  of  Christ  is  coextensive  with  the  ends  of 
the  world.  He  is  not  satisfied  with  founding  and  organizing 
churches,  but  he  watches  over  their  spiritual  interests  even 
when  a  prisoner  far  from  them,  and  knows  how  to  urge 
them  to  carry  out  not  only  the  precepts  but  also  the  coun- 
sels of  the  New  Law.  In  a  word,  Paul  was  indeed  "  to 
Christ  a  vessel  of  election  to  carry  His  name  before  the 
Gentiles,  and  kings,  and  the  children  of  Israel."  * 

♦  Acts  ix.  ij. 


SYNOPSIS  OF  CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
Labors  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  James. 


Labors  of  St.  ^ 
Peter: 


I.  In  Asia  Minor  (i   Pet.  i.  i)  and  Probably  in 
Corinth  (i  Cor.  i.  12;  ix.  5). 

Arrival  of  St.  Peter  in  Rome. 


St.  Peter,  bishop  j  The  fact, 
of  Rome:  "1  Its  bearing. 


2.  In  Rome: 


The  Gospel  ac- 
c^    r»  *  J   c    1      cording     t  o 

St.  Peter  and  St.  )       gt.  M^rk. 

The  church  of 
Alexandria. 


Mark: 


Martyrdom  of    St.    Peter    (place 
and  date). 


3.  St.  Peter's  Personal  Appearance  and  Char- 
acter. 


II. 

St.  James  of 
Jerusalem: 


1.  The  Christian  Church  of  Jerusalem  between 

45  and  70  a.d. 

2.  Was  James  "  the  Brother  of  the  Lord  "  iden* 

tical  with  James  "  the  Son  of  Alpheus  '  ? 

fin  the  eyes  of  the  Jews  Ctht 

3.  The  position  of  J      Epistle  of  St.  James). 

St.  James         |  in  the  eyes  of  the  apoi^*le> 
I     and  early  Christians. 

4.  Martyrdom  of  St.  James  (Manner  and  D9M). 

331 


CHAPTER   XXVIIL 

LABORS   OF    ST.  PETER    AND    ST.    JAMES. 

§  I.  Labors  of  St.  Peter. 

I.  In  Asia  Minor  and  Probably  in  Corinth.  When 
we  bear  in  mind  the  very  prominent  part  ascribed  to  St. 
Peter  in  the  preaching  of  Christianity  by  the  opening  chap- 
ters of  the  book  of  the  Acts,*  it  seems  strange  indeed  that 
afterwards  only  incidental  notices  of  his  labors  should  be 
found  in  this  and  the  other  inspired  writings  of  the  New 
Testament.  This  appears  all  the  more  surprising  because 
all  such  incidental  notices  \  clearly  point  to  a  fact  which  we 
would  of  course  expect,  viz.,  that  the  greatest  consideration 
continued  to  surround  his  words  and  person.  But  whatever 
may  be  thought  of  the  fragmentary  character  of  these 
notices,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  they  supply  valuable 
though  scanty  details  about  the  labors  of  the  head  of  the 
Church  during  the  long  and  eventful  journeys  of  St.  Paul 
which  we  have  briefly  described  in  the  preceding  chapters. 

Thus  from  these  sources  of  information  we  learn  that, 
while  St.  Paul  was  pre-eminently  the  Apostle  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, St.  Peter  was  regarded  as  especially  entrusted  "  with 
the  gospel  of  the  circumcision,"  \  and  that  he  probably 
preached  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  **  to  the  children  of 
Israel  dispersed  through  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Asia, 
and  Bithynia."  §     During  his  missionary  labors  he  was,  not 

*  Acts  i.  15;  ii.  14;  iii.-v.;  viii.  14-20;  ix.  32;  xii.  17. 

t  Acts  xv.  7-12;  Galat.  i.  18;  ii.  7,  11-15;  i  Cor.  1. 12;  Ix.  5;  1  Pbtbr  i.  ». 

X  Galat.  i.  7,  8.  §1  Pbter  i.  1. 


LABORS   OF   ST.    PETER    AND    ST.    JAMES.  333 

unlikely,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  who  rendered  to  him 
those  services  which  "the  rest  of  the  apostles  and  the 
brethren  of  the  Lord  "  received  from  pious  women  who  fol- 
lowed them  with  a  view  to  contribute  towards  the  spread  of 
the  Gospel  by  every  means  in  their  power,  such  as  assisting 
the  missionaries  with  their  worldly  goods,  preaching  to  and 
baptizing  women  in  the  various  cities  which  they  traversed.* 

Finally,  from  an  allusion  of  St.  Paul  to  Cephas'  party, 
as  a  Corinthian  faction  distinct  from  those  of  Paul  and 
Apollo,  to  whose  preaching  in  Corinth  these  latter  parties 
owed  their  origin,  it  has  been  inferred  that  the  existence  of 
Cephas'  party  pointed  back  likewise  to  the  preaching  of 
St.  Peter  in  the  capital  of  Achaia.f  This  inference  is,  in- 
deed, rejected  by  many,  yet  it  seems  to  be  fairly  probable, 
since  St.  Dionysius  of  Corinth,  writing  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  second  century,  is  quoted  by  Eusebius  |  as  speaking  of 
Peter  and  Paul  as  the  founders  of  the  Corinthian  Church. 

2=  In  Rome.  It  is  hardly  necessary  in  the  present  day 
to  rehearse  all  the  testimonies  which  go  to  prove  that  St. 
Peter  went  to  Rome  {that  is  "  the  Babylon  "  spoken  of  in 
I  Peter  v.  13)  and  labored  there  :  to  appeal,  for  instance,  to 
the  words  of  St.  Clement  of  Rome  (about  95  a.d.)  in  his 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,§  to  those  of  St.  Ignatius  Martyr 
a  few  years  later  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans,!  of  St. 
Dionysius  of  Corinth,^  of  Clement  of  Alexandria,**  of  St. 
Irenaeus,tt  of  Tertullian,|J;  who  all  wrote  before  the  end  Of 
the  second  century,  and  referred  explicitly  or  implicitly  to 
St.  Peter's  presence  in  the  capital  of  the  empire.  All  their 
testimonies,  and  countless  others  in  the  third  and  following 
centuries,  have  been  tested  over  and  over  again  by  critics, 
by  Catholics,  Protestants,  and  Rationalists  alike,  and  the 

*  I  Cor.  ix.  5.    Cfr.  Fouard,  St.  Peter,  pp.  247,  248.  t  i  Cor.  i.  12. 

%  Ecclesiastical  Hist.,  book  II.,  chap.  xxv.  §  Chaps,  v.,  vi. 

B  Chap.  iv.  IT  Cfr.  Eusebiis,  Eccles.  Hist.,  book  II.,  chap.  xxv. 

**  Eusebius,  book  VI.,  chap.  xiv.        tt  Adv.  Hsereses,  book  III.,  chap,  i.,  §  i. 
JJ  De  Praescriptione  Hjereticorum,  chaps,  xxxii.,  xxzvi. 


334  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

unequivocal  verdict  is  that  **  in  the  light  of  such  early  and 
unanimous  testimony  it  may  be  regarded  as  an  established 
fact  that  Peter  visited  Rome."  * 

But  while  this  most  important  point  may  be  considered 
as  settled,  the  same  thing  cannot  be  said  of  the  question  of 
the  time  when  St.  Peter  reached  the  capital  of  the  world,  for 
the  reference  to  this  tradition  is  comparatively  late  and  ap- 
parently discordant.  It  is  only  with  Eusebius  that  we  begin 
to  hear  of  a  date  for  the  coming  of  Peter  to  Rome,  and 
unfortunately  his  chronology  is  somewhat  inconsistent,  for, 
while  in  his  Chronicle  he  admits  that  the  apostle  came  to 
Rome  in  the  third  year  of  Caligula  (March  15th,  a.d.  39  to 
March  15th,  a.d.  40),  in  his  Ecclesiastical  History  \  he  puts 
St.  Peter's  arrival  under  Claudius  (January  24th,  a.d.  41,  to 
October  13th,  a.d.  54).  Unfortunately,  also,  Lactantius — 
or  whoever  may  be  the  author  of  the  "  De  mortibus  Per- 
secutorum  " — ascribes  the  arrival  of  the  head  of  the  Church 
under  the  reign  of  Nero,  "  after  the  apostles  had  preached 
already  for  twenty-five  years."  %  It  is,  indeed,  true  that  the 
influence  of  St.  Jerome,  who,  in  his  Latin  revision  of  Euse- 
bius' Chronicle,  adopted  the  precise  year  42  a.d.,§  the  sec- 
ond year  of  Claudius,  as  the  date  of  Peter's  coming  to  Rome, 
has  rendered  this  date  extremely  prevalent  among  subse- 
quent ecclesiastical  writers,  yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  for 
several  centuries  its  accuracy  has  been  questioned  and  re- 
jected by  many  scholars,  both  within  and  without  the 
Church. 

Perhaps  the  most  probable  view  regarding  the  arrival  of 
St.  Peter  in  the  capital  of  the  empire  is  the  one  which  ad- 
mits that  he  made  two  distinct  visits  to  Rome,  the  first  one 
either  under  Caligula  or  early  under  Claudius,  the  other  one 

*  MacGiffbrt,  p.   591.      Cfr.,  among  other  authorities,  Db  Smbdt,  Dissertat.  in 
primam  actatem;  Fouard,  St.  Peter,  appendix  iv. 
t  Book  II.,  chap.  xiv. 
X  Cfr.  Patrologia  Lat.,  vol.  vii.,  p.  195. 
§  Cfr.  also  St.  Jerome's  De  Viris  lUustribus  in  Patr.  Lat.,  vol.  xxiii.,  p.  607. 


LABORS  OF  ST.  PETER  AND  ST.  JAMES.       335 

under  Nero.  This  opinion  presents  a  plausible  account  of  the 
fluctuations  of  ecclesiastical  tradition  concerning  St.  Peter's 
arrival  in  Rome  and  harmonizes  well  with  the  traditional 
length  of  twenty-five  years  of  his  Roman  episcopate,  traces 
of  which  go  as  far  back  as  the  end  of  the  second  century.* 
Again,  it  enables  us  to  understand  how  the  church  of  Rome 
had  already  assumed  the  form  of  a  flourishing  and  well-or- 
ganized community  when  St.  Paul  wrote  his  Epistle  to  the 
Romans  ;  why  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  who  desired  so 
much  to  see  the  capital  of  the  empire,  was,  however,  long 
deterred  from  going  to  and  preaching  in  it  "  lest  he  should 
build  upon  another  man's  foundation  ";  why,  in  fact,  he  did 
not  intend  to  preach,  but  simply  to  call  there  on  his  way  to 
Spain. t  Finally,  the  theory  in  question  gives  a  natural  ex- 
planation of  the  singular  fact  that  the  ancient  martyrologies 
mention  two  distinct  festivals  in  honor  of  the  Chair  of  St. 
Peter,  the  former  of  which,  marked  for  January  i8th,  was 
destined  to  commemorate  the  "  Cathedra  S.  Petri  qua 
primum  Romae  sedit." 

But  whatever  difficulties  may  be  found  in  the  way  of 
determining  the  precise  date  of  St.  Peter's  arrival  in  Rome, 
it  remains  beyond  doubt  that  he  visited  that  city  and 
labored  long  therein,  for  only  his  prolonged  leadership  can 
account  for  the  honor  in  which  his  memory  was  universally 
held  by  the  Christians  of  Rome,  and  for  the  way  in  which 
his  figure  overshadowed  that  of  the  great  Apostle  of  the 
Gentiles.  Indeed,  to  admit  that  St.  Peter  ever  set  his  foot 
in  the  Eternal  City — as  most  Protestant  writers  actually  do — 
otherwise  than  in  virtue  of  the  fulness  of  his  apostolic 
power  must  ever  appear  a  strange  position  to  hold,  and 
one  arising  from  strong  prejudices  against  the  authority 
possessed  by  the  Roman  pontiffs  to  feed  the  whole  flock  of 
Christ  as  successors  of  St.  Peter.  If  the  prince  of  the  apos- 
tles went  to  Rome  at  all,  and  especially  if  he  long  labored 

*  Cfr.  DucHBSNB,  Lea  Origines  Chr^tiennes,  p.  73.  t  RoM.  xr.  so-24. 


336  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

and  died  there,  it  must  seem  only  reasonable  to  grant  that 
the  Roman  Church  has  the  right  to  trace  back  the  series  of 
her  bishops  to  the  one  who  was  pre-eminently  her  first  bishop, 
to  affirm  that  each  of  his  successors  holds  an  authority  in- 
herited from  him,  and  finally  to  claim  for  itself  that  fulness 
of  power  which  Christ  had  entrusted  to  Peter,  and  "  which 
makes  it  a  matter  of  necessity  that  every  church  should 
agree  with  this  Church  on  account  of  its  pre-eminent  au- 
thority." * 

The  precise  form  of  teaching  used  by  this  first  bishop  of 
Rome  has  been  embodied  and  handed  down  to  us  in  our 
second  canonical  gospel,  the  writing  of  which,  according  to 
a  very  ancient  tradition  recorded  by  Eusebius,t  is  the  work 
of  Mark,  the  spiritual  "son"  of  St.  Peter. J  In  point  of 
fact  the  rapid,  graphic,  circumstantial,  and  eminently  prac- 
tical character  of  St.  Mark's  gospel  commends  it  as  an 
original  and  faithful  picture  of  the  living  word  of  Peter, 
the  former  fisherman  of  Galilee  and  the  personal  witness 
of  the  deeds  of  Christ,  when  addressing  such  men  of  action 
as  the  Romans  of  his  time.  It  is  to  this  same  disciple  of 
St.  Peter  that  tradition  ascribes  the  foundation  of  the  great 
Church  of  Alexandria  in  Egypt,  and  although  the  tradition 
to  that  effect  is  found  for  the  first  time  in  the  Ecclesiastical 
History  of  Eusebius — that  is,  not  earlier  than  the  fourth 
century — it  should  not  be  rejected  at  once,  for  it  is  beyond 
doubt  that  this  historian  had  at  his  disposal  early  and 
complete  lists  of  the  Alexandrian  bishops.§ 

That  St.  Peter  suffered  martyrdom  in  Rome  is  a  fact  no 
less  certain  than  his  arrival  in  that  great  city,  for  the  same 
testimonies  which  tell  in  favor  of  the  latter  establish  equally 
well  the  former.  Tradition  affirms  also  with  no  less  cogency 
that  he  suffered  under  Nero,  and  several  particulars  which 

*  St.  iRBNiEUS,  Adv.  Haereses,  book  III.,  chap,  iii.,  §  2. 

t  Eccles.  Hist.,  book  III.,  chap,  xxxix.  t  >  Petbr  v.  13. 

$  Cfr.  Eccles.  Hist.,  book  II.,  chap,  xxv.;  book  III.,  chaps,  xiv..  SJO. 


LABORS  OF   ST.    PETER    AND   ST.    JAMES.  337 

have  come  down  to  us  through  the  same  channel  place 
it  practically  beyond  doubt  that  he  suffered  in  the  great 
Neronian  persecution.  This  is  notably  the  case  with  the 
traditional  statement  that  he  was  crucified,*  and  more  par- 
ticularly still  with  the  declaration  that  he  was  buried  in 
the  Vatican,!  for  the  imperial  circus  and  gardens  of  the 
Vatican  were  then  the  great  scene  of  the  butchery.  As 
the  great  fire  of  Rome  began  about  the  middle  of  July 
64  A.D.,  and  as  the  bloody  edict  of  persecution  appeared 
and  was  carried  out  very  soon  afterwards,  it  is  probable 
that  St.  Peter  was  one  of  the  early  victims  of  Nero,  and 
that  he  was  put  to  death  either  before  the  end  of  64  or  in 
the  beginning  of  65  a.d. — that  is,  only  a  few  months  after 
the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles.  This  opinion  is  indeed  some- 
what at  variance  with  the  commonly  received  view  that 
the  two  apostles  died  on  the  same  day — a  view  the  preva- 
lence of  which  is  perhaps  to  be  traced  back  to  the  influence 
of  St.  Jerome, — but  it  harmonizes  well  with  what  was  the 
primitive  tradition  of  the  Church,  viz.,  that  Peter  and  Paul 
"  suffered  martyrdom  about  the  same  time.''  \ 

3.  St.  Peter's  Personal  Appearance  and  Character. 
The  earliest  known  representation  of  St.  Peter's  features  is 
that  on  a  medal  recently  found  in  the  cemetery  of  Domitilla, 
and  probably  referable  to  the  close  of  the  first  or  the  beginn- 
ing of  the  second  century.  It  is  in  close  agreement  with  the 
traditional  representations  in  old  Greek  mosaics  and  other 
early  Christian  pictures,  and  the  features  of  the  apostle  are 
so  strongly  characterized  as  to  have  all  the  appearance  of  a 
portrait.  He  has  a  broad  forehead,  rather  coarse  features, 
an  open  and  undaunted  countenance,  short  gray  hair  and 
short  thick  beard,  both  curled,  full  lips,  and  protruding  eye- 

N 

*  See  Tkrtullian,  de  Prasscriptlone  Haereticorum,  chap,  xxxvi.;  Origbn,  quoted  by 
EusHBius,  Eccles.  Hist.,  book  III.,  chSp.  i. 

t  See  Caius  of  Rome,  quoted  by  Eusebius.  Eccles.  Hist.,  book  II.,  chap.  xxv. 

\  St  Dionysius  of  Corinth,  quoted  approvingly  by  Eusebius,  Ecclesiastical  His» 
tory,  book  II.,  chap.  xxv.    Cfr.  1  PBTEit  iv.  12. 


338  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

brows.  This  representation  harmonizes  also  with  the  follow- 
ing descriptive  portrait  which  Nicephorus,  a  Greek  historian 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  gives  of  St.  Pete»-,  and  which  he  prob- 
ably took  from  some  ancient  picture  of  the  apostle  :  "  He 
was  not  fat,  but  pretty  tall  and  upright  ;  had  a  fair  and  rather 
pale  countenance.  His  hair  and  beard  were  thick,  frizzled, 
and  not  long.  His  eyes  were  black,  his  eyebrows  protu- 
berant, his  nose  somewhat  long  and  rather  flat  than 
sharp."  * 

It  seems,  therefore,  that  the  personal  appearance  of  the 
prince  of  the  apostles  contrasted  much  with,  and  was  in 
some  particulars  inferior  to,  that  of  St.  Paul ;  and  perhaps 
the  same  thing  may  be  said  in  reference  to  his  character 
when  compared  with  that  of  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles. 
By  nature,  and  indeed  as  by  an  almost  necessary  outcome 
of  his  primitive  avocation  in  life,  he  was  more  self-reliant 
and  less  refined  than  St.  Paul.f  He  was  as  good  and  sin- 
cere a  man  as  his  joint  founder  of  the  Roman  Church,  but 
was  much  less  even-balanced  and  much  more  easily  betrayed 
by  the  impression  of  the  moment  into  rash  words  and 
deeds.J  In  him,  then,  much  more  than  in  the  Doctor  of 
the  nations,  natural  dispositions  needed  to  be  corrected  and 
elevated  by  the  grace  of  the  apostolate  in  order  that  he 
might  remain  to  the  end  true  to  his  faith  and  to  his  love 
for  his  Master  ;  §  and  in  point  of  fact  it  seems  as  if  this 
pre-eminent  grace  of  the  apostolate  had  been  less  successful 
in  perfecting  nature  in  him  than  in  St.  Paul,  for  even  long 
years  after  he  had  received  the  effusion  of  Pentecost  and 
exercised  his  apostolic  functions  he  was  still  "prone  to 
vacillate  and  often  mistaken  as  to  the  wisest  plan  to 
adopt."  II 

Be  this  as  it  may,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  practical 

*  Ecclesiastical  History,  book  II.,  chap,  xxxvii.    +  Matt.  xxvi.  33,  35 ;  xvi.  22,  etc. 

%  Matt.  xvii.  4;  Mark  ix.  5  ;  John  xviii.,  10,  etc. 

§  Matt.  xxvi.  34,  69  sq.;  Luke  xxii.  31  sq.  ||  Fouard,  St.  Paul,  p.  77. 


LABORS    OF    ST.    PETER   AND    ST.    JAMES,  339 

sense  and  prompt  energy  which  characterized  from  the  first 
the  Galilean  fisherman  followed  him  when  he  took  the 
helm  of  the  Church,  and  that  his  habit  of  speaking  quickly 
for  his  fellow-disciples  proved  later  of  great  avail,  when 
once  converted  he  had  to  confirm  his  brethren  by  a  prompt 
and  unequivocal  expression  of  the  right  belief.*  Finally, 
his  denials  of  the  Son  of  God  produced  in  his  soul  that 
deep  humility  which  Christ  had  recommended  to  those  in 
high  station  in  His  Church,  and  which  shone  forth  in  St. 
Peter's  lowly  acceptance  of  Paul's  rebuke  in  Antioch,  and 
more  strikingly  still  in  his  care  to  make  known  in  his 
preaching — recorded,  as  we  have  seen,  in  our  second  canon- 
ical Gospel — many  details  humiliating  to  himself. 

§  2.  St  James  of  Jerusalem^ 

I.  The  Christian  Church  of  Jerusalem  between 
45  and  70  A.D.  While  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  were 
spreading  the  Gospel  far  and  wide  St.  James  presided  over 
the  destiny  of  the  Christian  church  in  Jerusalem.  He  had 
assumed  this  responsible  and  difficult  charge  soon  after 
the  death  of  "  James  the  brother  of  John,"  who  was  put  to 
death  by  Herod  Agrippa  I.  in  44  a.d.;  and  for  a  long  time 
one  of  his  principal  cares  was  to  interest  the  members  of 
the  other  Christian  communities  in  the  distressing  poverty 
of  the  faithful  who  resided  in  the  Holy  City,  f  The  great 
bulk  of  these  consisted,  naturally,  of  Jewish  converts,  who, 
more  than  anywhere  else,  found  it  hard  to  divest  themselves 
of  the  notion  that  the  Mosaic  Law  should  be  fully  enforced 
upon  the  Gentiles  who  wished  to  embrace  Christianity,  and 
it  must  be  confessed  that  in  Jerusalem  many  things  con- 
curred to  keep  them  in  this  frame  of  mind.  The  Temple, 
that  magnificent  house  of  Jehovah,  upon  which  they  had 

*  Cfr.  LuKB  xxii,  32  ;  Acts  xv.  11. 

t  Galat.  ii.  to ;  1  Cor.  xvi.  1-4 ;  Acts  xxiv   17. 


34©  OUTLINES    OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

been  used  from  their  childhood  to  gaze  with  national  pride, 
was  still  standing  before  their  eyes  with  all  the  splendor  of 
its  architecture  and  all  the  pomp  of  its  ceremonial.  Its 
precincts,  where  was  still  found  the  wall  of  partition  with 
its  inscription,  threatening  instant  death  against  every  un- 
r.ircumcised  trespasser,  continued  to  appear  to  them  as 
sacred  as  before  they  had  believed  in  the  Messiahship  of 
Jesus,  and  reminded  them  forcibly  of  the  immense  distance 
which  they  had  been  taught  to  set  between  the  circumcised 
and  the  uncircumcised  worshipper  of  Jehovah.  That  this 
Judaistic  feeling,  and  all  that  it  implied,  redoubled  in  inten- 
sity when  the  great  Jewish  festivals  brought  into  the  capital 
of  Judaea  circumcised  men  from  every  quarter  of  the  world, 
"  with  their  offerings  and  vows,"  can  be  easily  imagined. 
Thus,  then,  day  after  day,  year  after  year,  their  veneration 
for  the  Mosaic  worship  and  ordinances  was  kept  alive,  and 
it  made  them  long  for  a  state  of  things  when  all  men  should 
worship  the  great  God  of  Israel  in  exactly  the  same  manner 
and  under  the  same  conditions  as  the  saintly  ancestors  of 
the  chosen  people.  In  Jerusalem,  also,  more  than  anywhere 
else,  it  was  easy  to  remember  that  Christ  Himself  had 
received  circumcision  and  submitted  to  Mosaic  observances, 
and  that,  far  from  rejecting  the  Law,  He  had  distinctly 
affirmed  that  He  had  not  come  to  destroy  the  Law  or  the 
Prophets.*  Finally,  both  the  example  of  James  "  the 
brother  of  the  Lord,"  who  appeared  to  all  a  living  model  of 
faithfulness  to  the  Law,  and  the  opposite  conduct  of  Paul, 
who  was  reported  to  teach  men  utter  disregard  for  it,  were 
calculated,  each  in  its  own  way,  to  attach  the  Jewish  Chris- 
tians of  Jerusalem  to  Mosaic  social  and  religious  practices. f 
It  is  probably  because  of  its  Judaistic  appearance  that, 
after  the  short  storm  it  underwent  under  Herod  Agrippa  I., 
the  Christian  community  of  Jerusalem  enjoyed  long  years 
of  freedom  from  persecution,  even  while  the  Jewish  leaders 

•  Matt.  v.  17.  t  Cfr.  Acts  zxL  30-S4. 


LABORS  OF  ST.  PETER  AND  ST.  JAMES.       341 

were  most  bent  on  bringing  about  the  condemnation  and 
death  of  St.  Paul.  It  is  also  likely  enough  that  this  long 
period  of  peace,  joined  to  the  apparent  lack  of  severance 
of  Christianity  from  Judaism  in  the  Holy  City,  contrib- 
uted much  to  induce  a  large  number  of  Jews  to  recognize 
Jesus  as  the  Messias.* 

While  the  church  of  Jerusalem  shared  so  much  in  the 
religious  feelings  of  the  Jews  of  the  time — and  continued  to 
do  so  up  to  the  ruin  of  the  city  by  Titus  in  70  a.d. — it 
seems  that  a  large  number,  if  not  the  bulk,  of  its  members, 
bearing  in  mind  the  prophetic  words  of  the  Saviour  concern- 
ing the  future  ruin  of  both  Temple  and  city,  persevered  in 
their  wish  that  war  with  Rome  should  be  avoided,  despite 
the  well-nigh  unbearable  injustice  and  tyranny  of  Gessius 
Florus,  the  second  successor  of  the  procurator  Festus.  In 
point  of  fact  numbers  of  them  withdrew  to  Pella  shortly 
before  Jerusalem  was  invested  by  the  Roman  forces  under 
Titus. 

2.  Was  James  **the  Brother  of  the  Lord"  Iden- 
ical  with  James  "  the  Son  of  Alpheus  "  ?  It  is  diffi- 
cult in  the  present  day  to  determine  whether  James 
"  the  brother  of  the  Lord,"  who  ruled  over  the  Christians 
of  Jerusalem  after  44  a.d.,  is  identical  with  the  apostle 
James  called  "the  son  of  Alpheus"  in  the  sacred  nar- 
rative.f  On  the  one  hand,  many  able  scholars  urge  in 
favor  of  the  identity  (i)  how  natural  it  is  to  suppose  that 
St.  Luke,  after  having  recognized  only  two  James,  viz., 
the  son  of  Zebedee  and  the  son  of  Alpheus,  up  to  the  twelfth 
chapter  of  the  book  of  the  Acts,  and,  having  in  that  chapter 
recorded  the  death  of  one  of  them  (James  the  son  of  Zebe- 
dee), should  go  on  in  the  same  and  following  chapters  to  speak 
of  "  James,"  meaning  thereby  the  other  James  already  men- 
tioned by  him,  and  not  a  different  James  not  yet  introduced 

*  Cfr.  Heghsippus,  quoted  in  Eusbbius,  Ecclesiastical  History,  book  II.,  chap,  yiii 
t  Cfr.  Matt.  x.  3  ;  Mark  iii.  i8  ;  Lukb  vi,  15  ;  Acts  i  ij. 


342  OUTLINES  OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

to  his  readers  ;  (2)  that  the  more  probable  meaning  of  St. 
Paul's  words  in  Galat.  i.  19,  "  But  other  of  the  apostles  I 
saw  none,  saving  James,  the  brother  of  the  Lord,"  is  that 
the  James  in  question  is  identical  wi-th  the  son  of  Alpheus, 
since  here  St.  Paul  speaks  of  the  twelve  primitive  apostles, 
from  whom  he  disclaims  to  have  received  commission  to 
preach  the  Gospel  ;  (3)  that  the  great  authority  ascribed  to 
James  the  brother  of  the  Lord  among,  or  even,  as  we  are 
told,  over,  apostles  *  points  to  one  of  the  primitive  apostles, 
and  consequently  to  one  who  is  to  be  identified  with  James 
the  son  of  Alpheus.f 

On  the  other  hand,  such  Catholic  scholars  as  the  Bollan- 
dist  Henschein,  R.  Simon,  Danko,  Schegg,  de  Smedt,  etc., 
maintain  with  the  current  notion  of  the  Greek  Church,  and 
with  what  seems  to  have  been  the  primitive  tradition  in  this 
regard,  that  James  the  Lord's  brother  is  different  from 
James,  the  son  of  Alpheus.  They  readily  admit  that  the 
brother  of  the  Lord  was  an  apostle,  but  only  in  the  same 
sense  as  Barnabas  or  Paul,  and  appeal  to  several  passages  of 
Holy  Writ  where  the  brethren  of  Jesus  are  clearly  distin- 
guished from  the  primitive  apostles  as  proving  that  James, 
one  of  the  former,  should  not  be  identified  with  one  of  the 
latter-t 

Perhaps  this  second  position  (to  which  St.  Jerome  him- 
self rallied  when  advanced  in  years,  though  he  had  strenu- 
ously defended  the  first  in  his  youth)  is  more  probable. 

3.  The  Position  of  St.  James  in  the  Eyes  of  both 
Jews  and  Christians.  Few  Christian  bishops  ever  en- 
joyed a  more  general  esteem  and  admiration  from  their  con- 
temporaries than  the  first  bishop  of  Jerusalem.  The  Jews, 
who  witnessed  day  after  day  his  long  prayers  on  his  knees 
in  the  sanctuary  of  Jehovah,  and  knew  that  in  everything 

*  Acts  xii.  17  ;  xv.  13  ;  xxi.  18. 

t  Cfr„  also  Galat.  ii.  9,  where  James  the  Lord's  brother  is  placed  before  Cephas 
and  John. 
I  Cfr.,  for  instance,  Acts  i.  13,  14  ;  Matt.  xii.  47 ;  John  vii.  5. 


LABORS  OF  ST.  PETER  AND  ST.  JAMES.       343 

he  gave  to  his  followers  the  example  of  a  scrupulous  obser- 
vance of  the  Mosaic  Law,  gradually  looked  upon  him  as  one 
of  the  glories  of  Judaism,  and  surnamed  him  "  the  Just."* 
It  is  not,  therefore,  to  be  wondered  at  that,  profiting  by  the 
great  respect  which  surrounded  him  in  the  Holy  City,  and 
which  was,  of  course,  noticed  by  those  of  the  Jewish  race 
who  came  to  Jerusalem  for  the  yearly  festivals,  that  the 
Lord's  brother  should  have  addressed  "  to  the  twelve  tribes 
scattered  abroad  "  the  catholic  epistle  ascribed  to  him. 

Nor  did  he  enjoy  less  authority  in  the  eyes  of  the  apos- 
tles and  in  those  of  the  early  Christians.  His  fellow- 
apostles  ever  saw  in  him  a  near  relative  of  Jesus,  one  who  had 
been  favored  with  a  special  apparition  of  the  Lord,t  and  who, 
although  personally  a  most  strict  observer  of  the  Jewish  Law, 
had  clearly  realized  the  divine  plan  that  the  Gentiles  should 
be  admitted  into  the  Church  without  being  required  to  sub- 
mit to  circumcision  and  to  most  of  what  it  implied.^  Hence 
they  ever  felt  that  despite  his  differences  from  them  in  out- 
ward conduct  he  was  inwardly  with  them  in  all  essential 
points  of  belief  and  worship,  that  he  was  the  man  the  most 
suited  to  be  the  head  of  the  church  of  Jerusalem,  then  so 
entirely  Jewish,  and,  finally,  that  he  was  one  of  the  very 
"  pillars  "  of  primitive  Christianity.§  As  to  the  early  Chris- 
tians of  Jerusalem,  they  had  naturally  the  deepest  venera- 
tion for  the  saintly  head  of  the  Church,  for  the  man  whose 
relationship  with  the  Messias  was  well  known,  and  whose 
personal  influence  in  the  Holy  City  secured  for  them  a  long 
period  of  peace  on  the  part  of  the  Jewish  authorities. 

4.  Martyrdom  of  St.  James.  In  spite,  or  rather  on 
account,  of  his  great  popularity  in  Jerusalem  James  "  the 
Just"  was  sentenced  to  death  in  consequence  of  what 
seems  to  have  been  a  combination  of  the  Pharisees  and  the 
Sadducees,     On  the  one  hand,  these  latter  hated  a  man 

*  Cfr.  Hhgesippus,  in  Eusbbius,  Eccles.  History,  book  II.,  chap,  xxiii. 

1 1.  Cor.  XV.  7.  %  Acts  xv.  13  sq.;  Galat.  ii.  9.  §  Galat.  ii.  9. 


344  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

whose  whole  influence  was  exerted  in  favor  of  Pharisaic 
customs  and  beliefs  and  whose  daily  life  was  a  silent  cen- 
sure of  their  own  worldly  conduct  ;  on  the  other  hand, 
many  of  the  Pharisees,  while  unable  to  find  fault  with  his 
manner  of  carrying  out  the  Mosaic  Law,  were  jealous  of  his 
authority,  and,  especially  as  he  perseveringly  made  use  of  it 
to  discourage  their  cherished  project  of  a  national  uprising 
against  Rome,  they  watched  for  an  opportunity  to  put  him 
to  death.  At  length,  as  the  successor  of  Festus  delayed 
much  to  reach  Palestine,  and  as  Ananus,  the  new  high 
priest  appointed  by  Agrippa  II.,  was  a  Sadducee  well  known 
for  his  unscrupulousness,  this  was  seized  upon  as  a  favor- 
able opportunity  to  bring  about  a  condemnation  by  the 
union  of  both  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  against  James,  the 
more  so  because  once  the  sentence  was  passed  it  might 
freely  be  carried  out  without  waiting  for  its  ratification  by 
the  procurator,  still  far  away  in  Alexandria.  The  Sanhe- 
drim was  therefore  gathered  by  Ananus  and  the  charge  of 
breaking  the  Law  distinctly  set  forth  against  James  and 
some  others  :  the  issue  of  the  trial  was  of  course  a  sentence 
of  death.  Even  after  all  these  forms  of  justice  the  Jewish 
leaders  did  not  dare  to  carry  out  directly  their  sentence 
against  James  *' the  Just,"  but  had  recourse  to  a  scheme 
calculated,  as  they  thought,  to  divide  the  multitude  about 
his  fate.  They  got  him  to  ascend  the  pinnacle  of  the  Tem- 
ple and  bade  him  to  declare  himself  openly  against  Jesus. 
What  they  expected  happened  :  James  proclaimed  gener- 
ously his  faith  in  Christ,  and  in  consequence  his  enemies, 
simulating  a  righteous  indignation  against  words  so  offensive 
to  Jewish  prejudice,  hurled  him  from  the  eminence  and 
then  stoned  him. 

Such   was   probably   the   manner    in   which  St.   James' 
martyrdom  was  brought  about  in  62  or  63  a.d.* 

*  Cfr.  Hegesippus'  and  Josbphus'  accounts  of  the  death  of  James,  quoted  in  Eusb- 
Bius,  Ecclesiastical  History,  book  II.,  chap,  xxiii.  See  also  Philip  Schaff,  Hist,  oi 
fce  Apostolic  Church,  p.  381,  footnote  2. 


SYNOPSIS   OF   CHAPTER   XXIX. 

Labors  of  St.  John.     Condition  of  the  Church  at 
HIS  Death. 


Labors  of  St. 
John: 


Why  and    how  questioned 
in  our  century  ? 

1.  First  Residence  .  Conclusive     arguments    in 
atEphesus:      ]      its  favor. 

Its    probable    motives    and 
duration. 

2.  Banishment  to  and  Sojourn  in  the  Island  of 

Patmos. 

3.  Second    Residence    at    Ephesus    (Legendary 

Incidents). 

4.  Death  of  St.  John.     His  Character. 


IL 

Condition  of 

THE  Church 

AT  the  death 

of  St.  John: 


I.  The  Church  and  (  Territorial  extension, 
the  RomanK  ,        ,  ,  ^,    .    . 

Empire:  (  Legal  status  of  Christians. 


'Conditions  of  membership. 
Church   officers   and     their 

support. 
Public  worship  (relation  to 

the  Jewish  worship). 
Church  discipline. 
Bonds  uniting  the  various 

churches. 


2.  Internal  Organ- 
ization: 


3.  Growing     Influence 
Public  Morals. 

345 


of     Christianity    upon 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

LABORS  OF  ST.   JOHN.      CONDITION   OF   THE   CHURCH 
AT    HIS   DEATH. 

§  I,  Labors  of  St.  John» 

I.  First  Residence  at  Ephesus.  The  same  silence 
of  Holy  Writ  which  surrounds  the  labors  of  St.  Peter  after 
the  opening  chapters  of  the  book  of  the  Acts  may  be  noticed 
in  connection  with  those  of  his  fellow-apostle  St.  John,  the 
beloved  disciple  of  the  Lord.  We  learn  indeed  from  a 
passing  reference  to  him  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians 
(ii.  9)  that  he  was  in  the  Holy  City  at  the  time  of  the  Coun- 
cil and  was  then  considered  with  James  and  Peter  as  one  of 
the  pillars  of  the  Church,  but  we  are  nowhere  told  in  Holy 
Writ  of  the  scene  or  precise  nature  of  his  labors  after  the 
Council  of  Jerusalem,  and  it  is  only  through  an  old  tradi- 
tion that  we  know  of  his  long  residence  at  Ephesus,  in 
which  city  also  he  would  have  written  our  fourth  canonical 
gospel.  This  silence  of  the  New  Testament  records,  com- 
bined with  that  of  St.  Ignatius  Martyr,  has  led  many  schol- 
ars— most  belonging  to  the  Rationalistic  school — to  suppose 
that  this  tradition,  first  mentioned  by  Irenaeus,*  originated 
in  a  wrong  identification  made  by  this  ecclesiastical  writer 
of  a  certain  Asiatic  presbyter  John  with  the  beloved 
apostle.  This  they  seem  the  more  authorized  to  suppose 
because  in  point  of  fact  at  least  in  one  case  recorded  by 

*  Cfr.  EusKBius,  Ecclesiastical  History,  book  V.,  chap,  xx.;  St.  lRBNi«os,  Adversus 
Hxreses,  book  II.,  chap,  xxii.,  §  5  ;  book  III.,  chap,  i.,  §  2 ;  chap,  iii.,  %  4. 

346 


LABORS   OF    ST.    JOHN.  347 

Eusebius  *  St.  Irenaeus  wrongly  identified  the  presbyter 
John  with  the  apostle  of  that  name,  f 

Notwithstanding  these  and  other  no  less  plausible  argu- 
ments, the  tradition  is  too  strong  to  be  shaken.  The  testi- 
mony of  Irenaeus  to  St.  John's  residence  in  Asia  derives  a 
peculiar  force  from  the  fact  that  he  was  a  pupil  of  St. 
Polycarp,  a  personal  disciple  of  the  beloved  apostle,  and  is 
confirmed  by  the  independent  testimony  of  Polycrates, 
bishop  of  Hierapolis  in  the  latter  part  of  the  second  cen- 
tury, and  of  his  contemporary  Clement  of  Alexandria.  To 
this  external  evidence  it  may  be  added  that  an  internal 
study  of  the  writings  ascribed  to  St.  John  proves  beyond 
doubt  that  in  the  latter  part  of  the  first  century  there  lived 
in  Asia  Minor  a  personage  "  who  had  himself  felt  the  direct 
influence  of  Jesus  and  who  stamped  his  conceptions  upon 
a  large  circle  of  disciples  "  X — a  personage  such  as  the  apostle 
John,  to  whose  presence  in  Ephesus  tradition  bears  direct 
and  explicit  testimony. 

But  while  the  residence  of  the  beloved  disciple  in  the 
capital  of  proconsular  Asia  may  well  be  considered  as  an 
unquestionable  fact,  its  motives  and  duration  still  remain 
shrouded  in  the  greatest  obscurity.  If,  however,  we  beai 
in  mind,  on  the  one  hand,  the  great  political,  commercial, 
and  religious  importance  of  Asia  Minor,  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  early  rise  of  heretical  doctrines  in  the  great 
churches  which  St.  Paul  had  founded  in  that  region,  we 
shall  probably  have  a  correct  view  of  the  general  conditions 
which  induced  St.  John  to  take  up  his  residence  in  Ephesus; 
but  beyond  this  we  cannot  go,  data  failing  us  regarding 
the  special  circumstances  of  the  time  when  he  resolved  to 
settle  there.  In  point  of  fact,  although  in  a  general  way 
it  seems  pretty  clear  that  his  sojourn  in  proconsular  Asia 

♦  Eccles.  Hist.,  book  III.,  chap,  xxxix. 

t  Cfr.  Revue  Biblique,  January,  1898,  p.  S9  8^ 

t  MacGiffbrt,  p.  607. 


34^  OUTLINES    OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

was  a  lengthened  one,  as  required  by  his  lasting  influence 
upon  its  various  Christian  communities,  we  have  no  sure 
clew  as  to  the  precise  date  of  his  arrival  at  Ephesus.  It  is 
indeed  taken  for  granted  that,  since  St.  Paul  in  his  last 
epistle  to  Timothy,  just  written  before  his  death,  does  not 
make, any  more  than  in  his  other  epistles  to  the  Ephesians 
and  Colossians,  even  the  least  reference  to  St.  John,  th« 
beloved  disciple  did  not  appear  in  Ephesus  before  the  death 
of  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles :  this,  however,  is  but  an 
argument  ex  siientio,  and,  furthermore,  does  not  help  us  in 
determining  positively  the  date  when  St.  John  began  to 
reside  in  proconsular  Asia.  In  like  manner  the  end  of  his 
residence  is  uncertain  unless  we  admit  what  Tertullian  is 
the  first  to  relate,  viz.,  that  in  the  persecution  under  Domi- 
tian  the  apostle  was  taken  to  Rome  and  thrown  into  a 
cauldron  of  boiling  oil,  which,  however,  did  not  hurt  him  ; 
for  in  this  case  John's  first  sojourn  in  Ephesus  may  have 
been  of  about  fourteen  or  fifteen  years.* 

2.  Banishment  to  and  Sojourn  in  the  Island  of 
Patmos.  It  is  also  under  Domitian  that  most  of  the  eariy 
ecclesiastical  writers  who  speak  of  the  fact  place  the  banish- 
ment of  St.  John  to  Patmos,  one  of  the  islands  in  the  ^gean 
Sea.  The  aspect  of  this  small,  rocky,  and  barren  spot 
agrees  well  with  what  we  know  of  the  custom  of  the  period 
to  send  exiles  to  the  most  desolate  islands.  Of  the  apostle's 
sojourn  there  we  have  no  record  outside  the  statement  often 
found  in  ecclesiastical  writers  that  it  was  there  that  St.  John 
wrote  the  inspired  book  of  the  Apocalypse.  His  banish- 
ment was  brought  to  an  end  at  the  death  of  Domitian  (a.d. 
96),  when  Nerva,  his  successor,  restored  to  liberty  all  those 
whom  the  tyrant  had  unjustly  sent  into  exile.f 

3o  Second  Residence  at  Ephesus.  Of  the  life  of 
St.  John  after  his  return  to  Ephesus  we  have  only  legendary 

*  Tertullian,  De  Prsscriptionibus,  chap,  xxxvi. 

t  Cfr.  W.  C^SAR,  The  Gospel  of  John,  Its  Authorship,  2d  ed.,  p.  34  sq. 


LABORS   OF    ST.    JOHN.  349 

reports,  which  harmonize  more  or  less  happily  with  the 
character  of  the  apostle.  We  briefly  mention  here  the  three 
which  are  best  known  and  are  probably  grounded  on  fact. 

The  first  one  is  recorded  by  Clement  of  Alexandria,  who 
relates  that  after  his  return  to  the  capital  of  proconsular 
Asia  St.  John,  making  a  visitation  tour  to  appoint  bishops 
and  organize  churches,  met  in  a  town  a  young  man  to 
whom  he  felt  himself  strongly  attracted  and  whom  he  spe- 
cially commended  to  the  bishop.  The  lad  was  first  well 
instructed  and  next  admitted  to  Baptism  ;  but  by  and  by 
the  bishop  took  less  care  of  him,  with  the  final  result  that 
the  young  man  became  the  chief  of  a  band  of  robbers. 
Great  indeed  was  the  grief  of  St.  John  when  some  time 
afterwards  he  revisited  the  town  and  learned  what  had 
happened.  Then  it  was  that  the  aged  apostle  hurried  off 
to  the  place  infested  by  the  bandits,  was  taken  by  them  to 
their  chief,  who,  recognizing  his  old  friend  the  apostle  John, 
betook  himself  to  flight.  But  the  good  shepherd  pursued 
after  him  and  succeeded  in  bringing  about  his  conversion* 

A  second  legend  which  illustrates  another  feature  of 
St.  John's  zeal  is  told  by  St.  Irenaeus,t  who  narrates  that 
in  his  time  "  people  were  still  living  who  had  heard  Polycarp 
relate  that  John,  the  disciple  of  the  Lord,  having  entered  a 
bath-house  at  Ephesus,  and  perceiving  Cerinthus  within, 
rushed  out  without  bathing,  saying :  *  Let  us  fly  lest  even 
the  bath-house  fall  upon  us,  since  it  contains  Cerinthus,  the 
enemy  of  truth.' " 

The  third  legend  is  recorded  by  St.  Jerome,!  who  tells 
us  that  when  the  aged  apostle  was  no  longer  able  to  walk 
to  the  Christian  assemblies  he  was  wont  to  be  carried 
thither,  and  that  his  address  consisted  every  time  in  these 
simple  and  affectionate  words:  "Little  children,  love  one 

*  Clement  of  Alexandria,  Quis  Dives  Salvabitur?  chap.  xlii. 
t  Adv.  Hsres.,  book  III.,  chap,  iii.,  §  4. 
X  Coram,  ad  Galatas,  vi.  10. 


350  OUTLINES    OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

another."  Wearied  with  this  constant  repetition  of  the 
same  lesson,  his  hearers  asked  him:  "  Master,  why  dost 
thou  always  say  this?"  to  which  he  answered:  "Because 
that  is  the  Lord's  command,  and  if  this  alone  is  done  it  is 
enough." 

4.  Death  of  St.  John.  His  Character.  Despite  the 
rumor  which  circulated  about  the  beloved  disciple  that  he 
was  not  to  die,  and  of  which  we  read  in  the  last  chapter  of 
our  fourth  gospel  as  of  a  misinterpretation  of  the  words  of 
Jesus  in  his  regard,  St.  John  slept  in  the  Lord  and  was 
buried  in  Ephesus  under  the  reign  of  Trajan  (98-117  a.d.). 
Of  the  various  legends  connected  with  his  death  and  burial, 
such  as,  for  instance,  that  he  did  not  actually  die,  but,  like 
Enoch,  was  translated  without  death,  etc.,  the  least  that  can 
be  said  is  that  they  are  fanciful.  The  age  at  which  he  died 
has  been  variously  estimated,  some  affirming  that  he  lived 
eighty-nine  years,  others  one  hundred,  and  others  again  one 
hundred  and  twenty.  The  exact  circumstances  of  his 
closing  hours  are  of  course  unknown. 

Of  all  the  primitive  apostles  of  Jesus,  John  was  the  best 
loved  by  his  Master,  and  none  loved  Him  more  in  return 
so  that  he  is  justly  spoken  of  as  the  "  apostle  of  love."  From 
beginning  to  end  he  was  the  sincere,  loyal,  and  devoted 
friend  of  Christ,  and  because  of  this  he  stood  by  Him  at  the 
foot  of  the  cross,  and  later  rejoiced  "  at  having  been  ac- 
counted worthy  to  suffer  reproach  for  the  name  of  Jesus."  '* 
His  was  indeed  a  contemplative  love,  yet  it  never  degener- 
ated into  that  sentimentality  which  several,  especially 
painters,  have  wrongly  conceived  as  one  of  the  traits  of  the 
apostle's  character.  No  doubt  before  the  effusion  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  on  Pentecost  some  traces  of  jealousy,  of  per- 
sonal ambition,  and  of  wrathful  feelings  may  be  discovered 
in  him,  and  in  so  far  prove  that  his  nature  needed  perfect- 
ing, but  they  do  not  necessarily  betray  the  weakness   and 

*  Acts  v.  41. 


LABORS   OF    ST.    JOHN.  35 1 

fickleness  of  a  feminine  character.  His  courage  in  resisting 
the  Sanhedrists  astonished  the  supreme  judges  of  Israel  no 
less  than  that  of  Peter,*  and  his  virile  conduct  during  the 
first  fifteen  years  of  Christianity  caused  all  who  knew  him 
best  to  look  upon  him  as  "  one  of  the  pillars  "  of  the  Church, 
as  they  did  upon  James  and  Cephas. f  His  severe  words 
against  heretics  or  unworthy  Christians,  his  desire  to  be  re- 
united with  Christ,  his  commendation  of  God's  love  towards 
men,  and  the  high  value  he  sets  upon  brotherly  love,  to- 
gether with  countless  other  features  noticeable  in  his  writ- 
ings, prove  that  he  closely  resembled  St.  Paul  in  his  manner 
of  urging  the  truths  of  the  Gospel  upon  his  fellow-men  ; 
and  it  is  well  known  that,  like  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles, 
he  led  a  life  of  perpetual  celibacy,  thus  teaching  by  his  own 
example  how  to  preserve  one's  heart  undivided.  Finally,  to 
John  alone  it  was  given  to  behold  the  Word  of  God  in  the 
bosom  of  the  eternal  Father,  to  lean  his  head  in  restful  love 
upon  the  Sacred  Heart  of  the  Incarnate  Word,  and  to  take 
the  place  of  Christ  Himself  near  His  bereaved  mother  :  and 
these  invaluable  privileges  clearly  point  to  corresponding 
high  features  in  the  apostle's  character,  such  as  lofty  views, 
delicate  affection,  and  absolute  trustiness.  J 

§  2.  Condition  of  the  Church  at  the  Death  of  St,  John, 

I.  The  Church  and  the  Roman  Empire.    As  we 

have  but  a  scanty  and  more  or  less  reliable  information 
about  the  scene  and  extent  of  the  labors  of  almost  every 
other  apostle  besides  Peter,  James,  John,  and  Paul,  it  is,  of 
course,  impossible  to  give  anything  like  an  exact  idea  of  the 
territorial  extension  which  the  Christian  Church  had  reached 
at  the  death  of  St.  John.     It  is  beyond  question,  however, 

♦  AcTsiv,  13,  19.  t  Galat.  ii.  9. 

X  For  interesting  details  about  John's  character  see  Westcott,  Ictroducdon  to  the 
Study  of  the  Gospels,  chap.  v. 


352  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

that,  like  the  mustard  seed,  to  which  it  is  compared  in  the 
Gospel,  Christianity  had,  less  than  seventy  years  after  the 
death  of  its  Founder,  taken  deep  roots  in  the  Roman  Empire, 
stretched  forth  its  branches  into  almost  all  its  provinces,  and 
offered  shelter  to  its  various  nationalities.  Long,  indeed, 
after  Pentecost  the  early  preachers  of  the  Gospel  had  lin- 
gered in  Jerusalem  or  its  vicinity;  but,  once  started  to  con- 
quer the  world  to  Christ,  they  rapidly  founded  great  cen- 
tres of  Christian  worship  not  only  in  western  Asia,  but  also 
in  southern  Europe  (Spain  included)  and  in  northern 
Africa. 

Many  things  contributed  towards  this  rapid  and  extensive 
diffusion  of  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation.  There  was,  first  of 
all,  the  enthusiasm  of  the  early  witnesses  to  Christ's  words 
and  deeds,  an  enthusiasm  backed  up  by  examples  of  heroic 
virtue  and  by  stupendous  miracles.  Next,  there  was  the 
wonderful  unity  which  characterized  the  Roman  rule 
over  all  the  districts  of  the  empire,  and  which,  in  many 
ways,  prepared  for  their  religious  unity  under  the  sceptre  of 
Christ.  Again,  the  feelings  of  countless  souls,  disgusted 
with  heathenism  and  made  acquainted  with  the  worship  of 
the  true  God  and  with  the  Messianic  promises  by  the  pros- 
elytism  of  the  Jewish  race,  led  them  willingly  to  embrace 
the  Christian  religion,  which  offered  a  fulfilment  of  the 
Messianic  predictions,  and  did  away  with  the  circumcision 
and  other  odious  peculiarities  of  Judaism,  while  it  preserved 
and  perfected  the  monotheistic  belief  and  the  high  morality 
of  the  Jews.  Finally,  there  was  the  legal  status  of  the 
Christians,  who  for  long  years  appeared  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Roman  authorities  throughout  the  empire  simply  as  a  Jew- 
ish sect,  entitled,  despite  the  opposition  it  met  with  from 
their  fellow-Jews,  to  the  same  religious  and  civil  toleration 
as  the  other  worshippers  of  Jehovah.  True  the  Jewish 
leaders  were  anxious  to  do  away  with  this  confusion,  to 
show  that  Christianity  was  no  mere  sect  of  Judaism,  and 


LABORS   OF    ST.    JOHN.  353 

that,  in  its  distinctive  features,  it  was  hostile  to  Caesar ;  in 
fact  it  was  probably  to  their  exertions,  seconded  by  Nero's 
wife,  Poppsea,  who  was  a  Jewish  proselyte,  that  we  must 
refer  the  final  condemnation  of  St.  Paul,  together  with  those 
features  of  the  Neronian  edict  of  persecution  which,  repre- 
senting the  Christians  as  the  enemies  of  the  state,  made  of  it 
a  permanent  law  of  the  empire.  Yet  even  this  unjust  decree, 
and  especially  its  first  sanguinary  application  in  the  circus 
and  gardens  of  the  Vatican,  forced  the  existence  of  Chris- 
tianity and  its  distinction  from  Judaism  upon  the  attention 
of  many,  gave  them  an  opportunity  to  admire  the  heroic 
courage  of  its  martyrs,  to  inquire  into  and  finally  embrace 
its  doctrine.  Furthermore,  a  reaction  set  in  even  before 
Nero's  death,  the  persecution  abated,  and  for  long  years 
after  the  demise  of  the  tyrant  the  Church  enjoyed  a  period 
of  peace,  during  which  it  made  numbers  of  converts,  some 
of  whom  belonged  even  to  the  family  of  the  Emperor 
Diocletian.* 

2.  Internal  Organization  of  the  Church.  Together 
with  this  rapid  growth  as  to  territory  and  membership, 
Christianity  gradually  and  rapidly  assumed  its  special  in- 
ternal organization.  The  conditions  of  admission  into  any 
of  its  distinct  churches  were  of  the  simplest  kind  :  it  suf- 
ficed to  believe  "  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  of  God,"  f  to 
repent  sincerely  for  one's  sins,  and  to  receive  Christian  Bap- 
tism, which  was  administered  by  immersion  as  far  as  cir- 
cumstances of  time,  place,  health,  etc.,  allowed.  It  is  also 
probable  that  usually  when  the  head  of  a  family  was  re- 
ceived into  the  Church  all  the  persons  of  the  household 
were  admitted  to  membership,  the  adults  by  submitting 
freely  to  the  same  conditions  as  the  head  of  the  family, 
and  the  children  by  receiving  Baptism,  which  made  of  them 
members  of  the  Christian  Church,  just  as  circumcision  had 

•  Cfr.  P.  Allard,  Le  Christianisme  et  1' Empire  Remain,  chap.  L 
t  Acts  viii.  37 ;  1  John  v.  1-5 


354  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

made  of  children  born  under  the  Old  Covenant  members  of 
the  chosen  people  of  God.* 

Besides  the  men  who  founded  any  particular  Church  and 
were  accordingly  called  its  apostleSy\  each  Christian  com- 
munity was  placed  practically  from  the  beginning  under 
the  rule  of  special  officers  charged  to  watch  sedulously 
over  its  various  interests.  X  Differently  from  the  apostles — 
and  apparently  also  from  the  "  prophets  "  and  "doctors" 
who  exercised  a  general  ministry  resembling  in  many  ways 
the  apostolate  § — the  regular  officers  of  a  church  were  ap- 
pointed over  that  special  church  and  intrusted  with  all  the 
administrative  powers  required  by  its  peculiar  circumstances. 
It  seems  probable  that  these  pastors  of  the  flock  of  Christ 
were  bishops,||  who  governed  particular  churches  with  the 
help  of  deacons,  and  who  had  full  power  to  raise  others  to 
the  same  dignity.l^  As  the  welfare  of  a  Christian  commu- 
nity depended  so  much  on  the  prudence,  integrity,  and  other 
moral  qualities  of  these  pastors,  it  is  not  surprising  that  high 
personal  qualifications,  such  as  those  we  find  described  in 
the  Pastoral  Epistles,  should  have  been  required  in  the  of- 

*  Cfr.  Acts  x.  2,  44-48 ;  xvi.  15,  30-33  ;  xviii.  8  ;  i  Cor.  i.  16 ;  xvi.  15. 

t  Cfr.  I  Cor.  ix.  i,  2.  t  Cfr.  Acts  xx.  28-31 ;  xiv.  22  ;  etc. 

§  Cfr.  Acts  xiii.  r  ;  Ephes.  ii.  20  ;  i  Cor.  xii.  28,  etc. 

II  In  connection  with  the  government  of  individual  churches  during  the  apostolical 
age  the  following  leading  facts  may  be  noticed  : 

(i)  In  his  epistles  to  the  Christian  communities  St.  Paul  addresses  the  whole  Church, 
and  when  calling  upon  it  to  adopt  any  measures  makes  no  mention  of  ecclesiastical  of 
ficials. 

(2)  The  hierarchical  division  he  refers  to  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Philippians  (i.  i)  com- 
prises only  bishops  and  deacons. 

(3)  The  ecclesiastical  officials  spoken  of  in  the  Pastoral  Epistles  and  in  the  book  of  the 
Acts  seem  to  constitute  a  body  of  presbyters  (i  Tim.  iv.  14),  the  importance  of  which 
appears  at  an  early  date  in  the  church  of  Jerusalem  (Acts  xv.  2,  6,  22). 

(4)  Finally,  the  presbjrters  are  at  times  called  bishops  and  seem  to  enjoy  the  same  pow- 
ers (Acts  XX.  17,  28). 

These  and  other  such  data  render  it  difficult  for  us  to  realize  the  elements  of  the  hier- 
archy  or  their  methods  of  government  in  the  early  Church,  but  they  are  just  what  we 
might  expect  in  a  period  of  formation  such  as  was  the  apostolical  age  (cfr.  Battifol, 
Revue  Biblique,  October,  1894;  April,  October,  1895;  Whiszacker,  The  Apostolic 
Age ;  Jas.  Hastings,  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  art.  Bishop ;  Church  Government). 

\  Cfr.  I  Tim.  iii.  i-io;  Titus  i.  5-11 ;  Philip,  i.  1 ;  i  Pbtbr  v.  1-5. 


LABORS    OF    ST.    JOHN,  355 

ficers  of  the  early  Church.  It  is  indeed  conceivable  that, 
after  the  example  of  St.  Paul,  some  of  them  worked  at  a 
trade  for  their  own  support,  but  they  had  certainly  a  right, 
founded  on  the  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament  and 
on  one  of  the  sayings  of  the  Lord,*  to  receive  some  help 
from  the  community  to  whose  spiritual  needs  they  min- 
istered, f 

One  of  the  many  duties  of  those  Church  officers  was  that 
of  conducting  the  public  worship,  which,  in  the  apostolical 
age,  resembled  closely  that  of  the  Jews.  This  resemblance 
was,  of  course,  closest  in  Jerusalem,  where  the  Christian 
community  exhibited  such  a  Jewish  appearance,  but  it  was 
also  striking  in  the  various  towns  and  cities  of  the  Roman 
empire.  Thus,  outside  the  extraordinary  divine  manifesta- 
tions, such  as  prophesying,  speaking  with  tongues,  etc.,  of 
which  we  read  in  the  religious  meetings  of  the  primitive 
Church,  the  public  services  comprised  most  likely  the  read- 
ing of  a  portion  of  Scripture,  together  with  preaching, 
prayer,  and  singing  of  psalms.J  Among  the  new  features 
which  could  be  noticed,  we  may  mention  here  the  public 
reading  of  the  Apostolic  Epistles,  the  giving  of  alms  for  the 
support  of  the  brethren  in  need,  and  above  all  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  Holy  Eucharist  at  the  close  of  a  common  eve- 
ning meal ;  to  these  may  also  be  added  the  weekly  cele- 
bration of  the  first  day  of  the  week  (our  Sunday),  while  of 
the  great  yearly  festivals  of  the  Jews  two  only  seem  to  have 
been  retained,  viz.,  the  Passover  and  Pentecost. 

It  was  also  the  personal  business  of  the  heads  of  each 
particular  church  to  watch  over  the  good  order  of  the  Chris- 
tian community  outside  the  public  meetings.  Every  moral 
abuse  they  had  to  reprove,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  they  had 

*  I  Cor.  ix.  9,  13,  14. 

t  Cfr.  1  Tim.  vi.  8,  9 ;  2  Tim.  ii.  2-4 ;  Gal.  vi.  6.  See  also  Allen,  Christian  Instittt- 
tions,  chap.  iii. 

t  Cfr.  I  Tim.  ii.  i  sq.;  2  Tim.  ii.  15  ;  Titus  i.  9 ;  ii.  7 ;  1  Cor.  xiv.  16.  Cfr.  Weii- 
SACXBR,  The  Apostolic  Age,  vol.  ii.,  p.  275  sq. 


35^  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

to  ward  off  heresies,  to  put  an  end  to  dissensions  or  law 
suits  between  brethren,  and  even  when  necessary  to  cut  off 
from  their  communion  obstinate  men  of  unsound  faith  or 
morals.*  Other  points  of  church  discipline  had  also  been 
authoritatively  determined  by  the  apostles  before  their 
death,  as,  for  instance,  the  regulations  concerning  the  selec- 
tion of  widows,  deacons,  and  other  church  officers,  the  rules 
to  be  observed  when  accusations  were  laid  to  their  charge, 
etc.  That  in  these  early  days  of  Christianity  the  dis- 
ciplinary power  of  the  Church  was  at  times  vindicated  by 
direct  visitations  from  God  for  certain  sins  cannot  well  be 
denied;  t  but,  of  course,  then  as  now,  the  ecclesiastical 
power  of  coercion  was  not  a  physical  one,  and  had  for  its 
direct  object  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  culprit  as  well  as 
of  the  community. 

Finally,  these  same  heads  of  a  particular  church  did  not 
look  upon  themselves  as  upon  rulers  altogether  independent 
of  those  from  whom  they  had  received  ordination  ;  X  nor 
did  they  look  upon  the  special  church  entrusted  to  their 
care  otherwise  than  upon  an  integrant  part  of  the  flock  of 
Christ  and  of  the  house  of  God.  This  last  feeling  was  the 
natural  outcome  of  that  community  of  faith,  hope,  purpose, 
and  interests  which  bound  together  so  intimately  all  the 
early  believers,  and  which  manifested  itself  in  many  dif- 
ferent ways,  such  as  the  welcoming  of  itinerant  prophets 
and  teachers,  the  exchange  of  apostolic  or  other  important 
letters,  the  sending  of  official  delegates  to  other  commu- 
nities whenever  occasion  offered,  etc.§  To  find  the  central 
authority  established  by  Our  Lord  recognized  and  exercised 
we  have,  however,  to  wait  until  a  somewhat  later  period. 

Of  course,  when  our  canonical  gospels  made  their  way 
into  general  circulation,  they  contributed  powerfully  to 
keep  up  and  increase  the  unity  of  mind  and  heart  which 

*  Cfr.  Acts  xx.  28  sq.;  i  Tim.  i.  3  ;  v.  1 ;  Titus  i.  ii  ;  i  Cok.  v.-vi. 

t  Cfr.  Acts  v.  i  sq.;  i  Cor.  v.  5.  J  i  Tim.  v.  17  sq. 

$  Cfr.  Acts  xi.  37 ;  a  Cos.  viii.  18,  23,  24 ;  Colos.  iv.  7-16 ;  etc. 


LABORS    OF    ST.    JOHN.  ^ey 

bound  together  the  various  churches;  and  this  was  also  the 
result  of  the  early  persecutions  and  heresies  which  befell 
either  the  whole  extent  or  individual  parts  of  the  mystical 
body  of  Christ. 

3.  Growing  Influence  of  Christianity  upon  Public 
Morals.  It  is  impossible  in  the  present  day  to  define  the 
precise  extent  to  which  the  rapid  growth  of  Christianity 
during  the  apostolic  age  influenced  directly  the  public 
morals  of  the  time.  Of  course  all  those  who  sincerely 
embraced  the  faith  came  under  the  direct  influence  of  the 
doctrinal  and  moral  teachings  of  the  Church,  and  in  pro- 
portion to  their  efforts  to  tread  in  the  footsteps  of  Christ 
and  of  His  apostles  contributed  by  their  lives  to  raise  the 
tone  of  society  at  large.  A  great  change  for  the  better  was 
easily  noticed  in  them — whether  Jews  or  Gentiles,  rich  or 
poor,  freedmen  or  slaves — after  they  had  become  Chris- 
tians, and  this,  together  with  their  perseverance  in  avoid- 
ing former  occasions  of  sin,  in  practising  the  virtues 
befitting  their  station  in  life,  was  calculated  to  give  a  high 
idea  of  a  religion  which  was  capable  of  producing  such 
results  and  to  prove  that  its  beliefs  and  its  morality  were 
conducive  to  the  public  good.  It  must  have  been,  how- 
ever, very  slowly  and  indirectly  that  the  spirit  of  the  Gos- 
pel, so  opposed  to  that  of  the  pagan  world,  succeeded  in 
effecting  a  noticeable  difference  in  the  public  condition  of 
morals,  the  more  so  because  the  bulk  of  Christians  belong- 
ing to  the  lower  ranks  of  society  could  have  but  little,  if 
any,  positive  influence  upon  the  leading  classes.  Yet  it 
cannot  be  denied  that  Christian  rules  about  marriage  and 
family  life  were  throughout  that  period  incomparably  more 
effective  than  the  imperial  decrees  of  Augustus  on  the 
same  points;  that  Christianity,  which  caused  so  many  men 
to  look  upon  and  deal  with  the  poor  and  the  slave  as  God's 
children  and  as  members  of  one  and  the  same  mystical 
body  of  Christ,  had  done  very  much  more  than  all  the  phi- 


558  OUTLINES   OF    NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

losophers  of  the  time  towards  raising  the  dignity  of  human 
nature.  It  is  also  beyond  doubt  that  the  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  had  revealed  to  countless  thousands  the  purifying 
power  of  suffering,  the  supremacy  of  conscience,  the  full 
value  of  the  human  soul,  the  blessedness  of  self-sacrifice, 
the  pure  joys  of  close  union  with  God,  etc.,  and  thereby 
awakened  in  the  depths  of  their  hearts  a  holy  enthusiasm 
for  everything  good,  noble,  and  generous  that  would  grad- 
ually force  admiration  and  provoke  imitation.  Finally,  if 
we  contemplate  what  the  new  religion  had  already  accom- 
plished in  the  line  of  checking  evil  passions  and  of  ena- 
bling men  of  all  classes  to  practise  heroic  virtue,  it  must  be 
admitted  that  the  Church  was  destined  to  influence  more 
and  more  powerfully  public  morals  by  a  slow  but  sure 
undermining  of  the  selfish  views  and  degrading  rites  of 
paganism,  and  by  "  leavening,"  as  it  were,  the  whole  of  hu- 
man society  by  the  purity  of  its  doctrine  and  by  the  grace 
of  its  sacraments:  "The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  to  leaven, 
which  a  woman  took  and  hid  in  three  measures  of  meal, 
until  the  whole  was  leavened."  * 

•  Matt.  xiii.  |j. 


CHRONOLOGICAL   TABLE 

Established   on   the  now  commonly   admitted   fact 

THAT    THE  BiRTH  OF   CHRIST  TOOK  PLACE  SOME  YEARS 
BEFORE  WHAT  IS  CALLED  THE  CHRISTIAN  ErA. 


Part  First  :   The  Gospel  History, 


Herod  King  of  Judaea B.C.  37-4 

Annunciation  to  Zachary. . . , Oct.,  B.C.  6 

Annunciation  to  Mary March-April,  B.C.  5 

Presentation  of  Jesus  and  Visit  of  the  Magi February,  B.C.  4 

Return  from  Egypt April,  B.C.  4 

Our  Lord's  Apparition  among  the  Doctors April,  a.d.  8 

Preaching  of  John  the  Baptist Summer,  A.D.  26 

Baptism  of  Christ January,  A.D.  27 

Beginning  of  Public  Ministry February-April,  A.D.  27 

The  Three  Years'  Public  Ministry April  27-April  30,  A.D. 

The  Last  Supper  (Nisan  14th) Thursday,  April  6th,  A.D.  30 

Crucifixion  and  Death Friday,  April  7th,  a.d.  30 

Resurrection Sunday,  April  9th,  a.d.  30 

Ascension Thursday,  May  i8th,  a.d.  30 


Part  Second:   The  Apostolical  History. 

A,D. 
The  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  on  Pentecost  Day... May  28th,  30 

Death  of  St.  Stephen 3^  or  32 

Conversion  of  Saul 31  or  32 

St.  Paul's  First  Visit  to  Jerusalem 34  or  35 

Death  of  Herod  Agrippa  I -  -44 

359 


360  OUTLINES   OF   NEW    TESTAMENT    HISTORY. 

St.  Paul's  First  Missionary  Journey between  44-46 

The  Council  of  Jerusalem 45  or  46 

The  Epistle  to  the  Galatians 46 

St.  Paul's  Second  Missionary  Journey 46-49 

St.  Paul's  Third  Missionary  Journey 49-53 

St.  Paul's  Arrest  in  Jerusalem 53 

St.  Paul's  Imprisonment  in  Caesarea .53-55 

St.  Paul's  First  Journey  to  Rome 55-56 

First  Roman  Imprisonment  of  St.  Paul 56-58 

Death  of  St.  James,  the  Brother  of  the  Lord 62  or  63 

Second  Roman  Imprisonment  of  St.  Paul 63 

Death  of  St.  Paul 64 

Death  of  St.  Peter end  of  64  or  beginning  of  65 

Death  of  St.  John  under  Trajaa » about  98 


ALPHABETIC  INDEX. 


Abia,  course  of,  33. 
Achaia,  279,  282,  285,  296. 
Agrippa  (see  Herod). 
Alexander,    the     coppersmith, 

323,  324- 
Alexandria,  246,  256,  336,  344. 
Ananias,  232,  250. 
Andrew,  98,  99. 
Annas,  201,  304. 
Annunciation,  to  Mary,  34;   to 

Zachary,  33. 
Antioch,  of  Syria,  234,  255  sq., 

275,  284,  339;  of  Pisidia,  265, 

266. 
St.   Peter    in,  239  sq.,  255 

sq.,  260,  266. 
Antipater,  father  of  Herod,  21; 

son  of  Herod,  29. 
Antonia,  76,  211. 
Apocryphal  books,  28. 
Apollo,  288,  333. 
Apostles,    names    of   the,    124; 

sending  of  the,   124. 
departure  from  Jerusalem, 

242  sq. 
selection    of    the    twelve, 

123  sq. 
Appii  Forum,  314. 
Aquila,  282.  289. 


Arabia,  St.  Paul  in,  251  sq. 

Archelaus,  30,  71. 

Areopagus,  280  sq. 

Arrest  of  St.  Paul,  302  sq. 

Artemis  (see  Diana). 

Ascension,  225  sq. 

Asia  Minor,  28,  245  sq.,263  sq., 

275,322,  347;  Province  of,  277, 

289  sq. 
Athens,  25,  246,  280,  281. 
Augustus,    24,    25,    31,   39,   72, 

245,  316,  357. 

Baptism,  administered  by  Our 

Lord's  disciples,  94,    iii;  of 

Christ,  94  sq. 
Barabbas,  207  sq.,  273  sq. 
Barnabas,    240,    254,    255,    265, 

269. 
Bartholomew  or  Nathanael,  99. 
Berea,  280  sq. 
Bethesda,  122  note, 
Bethany,  near  Jerusalem,  225; 

beyond  Jordan,  94. 
Bethlehem,  44. 
Bethphage,  227. 
Bethsaida,  pool  of,  122;  city  of, 

99. 
Betrayal,  the,  of  Jesus,  200. 
361 


3^2 


INDEX. 


Bishops,  origin  of,  354;  relation 
to  apostles,  prophets,  elders, 
etc.,  354. 

Brothers,  of  Jesus,  65  sq. 

Burial  of  Jesus,  215  sq. 

Burrhus,  318,  323. 

CiESAREA,  of  Palestine,  25,  28, 

71,  237,  242,  255,  284,  298,  304 

sq.,  307.  3". 
Caiphas,  201  sq. 
Caligula,  73,  238,  240. 
Calvary,  211  sq. 
Cana,  99,  loi. 
Capharnaum,  108,  116  sq. 
Cedron,  198,  200. 
Celibacy  of  St.  Paul,  247  sq. 
Cenchra,  283. 
Census,  39  sq.,  72. 
Christians,  origin  of  the  name, 

256  sq.;  in  Rome,  317  sq. 
Cilicia,  245  sq.,  285. 
Circumcision,   of  John,  34  ;    of 

Jesus,  48. 
of   Gentile   converts,    256, 

268,  352. 
Claudius,  240,  282,  298,  305,  317. 
Coenaculum,  191,  198. 
Confession  of  St.  Peter,  144. 
Corinth,  282,  283   sq.,  295  sq., 

316,  322,  332  sq. 
Cornelius,  238  sq. 
Council  of  Jerusalem,  269  sq., 

275,  287,  302,  346. 
Crete,  311. 
Cross,  211  sq. 
Crucifixion,  211  sq. 
Cyprus,  239,  261  sq.,  274,  299. 
Cyrinus,  40,  43,  71. 

Damascus,  25,  119,  249  sq., 
252  sq. 


Date  of  Christ's  birth   42  sq. 

of  Christ's  baptism,  96. 

of  Last  Supper,  192. 

of  Paul's  death,  325  sq. 

of  Peter's  death,  336  sq. 

Deacons,  First,  234. 
Decapolis,  117. 

Denials  of  Peter,  197,  202,  339. 
Derbe,  266,  275. 
Developments    of    Our   Lord's 

life,  59  sq. 
Diana,  292  sq. 

Disciples,  first,  of  Jesus,  98  sq. 
Dispersion,  27. 
Duration  of  Christ's  ministry, 

90. 

Elders,  81. 

Elizabeth,  34. 

Emmaus,  223. 

Enrolment,  39. 

Ephesus,  the  city  of,  284,  287, 

290,    296,    322,    323    sq.,    346; 

Paul's  work  in,  287  sq. ;  John's 

work  in,  346  sq. 
Epiphany,  52  sq. 
Esdraelon,  18,  59,  63. 
Essenes,  75. 
Eucharist,  196,  355. 
Europe,   St.    Paul   in,   277   sq., 

294  sq. 

Felix,    procurator    of    Judsea, 

303  sq.,  305  sq. 
Festus  Portius,  307,  324,  344. 
First-born,  42. 
Flight  into  Egypt,  56. 

Gabriel,  34. 

Galalia,  northern,  276;  southern, 
273.  275,  285,  288. 


INDEX. 


363 


Galilee,  province  of,  15,  18,  22, 
62  sq. ;  sea  of,  108,  116  sq., 
222  sq. 

Gamaliel,  67,  233,  247. 

Garizim,  Mount,  19,  114. 

Gaza,  17,  28. 

Genealogies,  41. 

Genesareth,  lake  of,  19,63,99 
(see  Sea  of  Galilee). 

Gentiles,  the,  receive  the  Holy 
Ghost,  276. 

Gethsemani,  198. 

Golgotha,  212. 

Gospels,  characteristics  of  Gos- 
pel narrative,  105  sq.. 

Hallel,  195,  197,  246. 
Heathenism  in  Palestine,  27. 
Hebrew  Jews,    their    disputes 

with  the  Hellenists,  234. 
Hebron,  17,  36. 
Hellenistic   Jews,   27,    234  sq., 

248,  254,  260. 
Herod  the  Great,  21  sq.,  39,  70, 

240,  306. 
Agrippa  I.,  71,  240 sq.,  324, 

339;  Agrippa  II..  250,  307,344- 
Antipas,  59,  70,  116;  Philip 

II.,  70,  206. 
High-priests,  26,  80,  249  sq. 
Hyrcanus  I.,  21;  Hyrcanus  II., 

21. 

ICONIUM,  266,  275. 

Idumaea,  15,  30. 
Illyricum,  295. 
Incarnation,  33  sq. 
Innocents,  massacre  of   Holy, 
55  sq. 

Jacob's  Well,  114. 


James  (St.),    son   of    Alpheus, 

124,  269. 
son  of  Zebedee,   124,  241, 

339. 

brother  of  the  Lord,  270, 

301  sq.,  339,  341  sq.,  351. 

Jericho,  23,  24,  94,  ro8,  220 
sq. 

Jerusalem,  15,  22,  121,  255,  269, 
284. 

Council  of,    269   sq.,    275, 

287,  302,  346. 

Church   of,  later  history, 

339  sq. 

Jesus,  name  of,  49. 

His  occupations  in  Naza- 
reth, 67  sq. 

Lamb  of  God,  100. 

Son  of  Man,  100,  119,  226, 

236. 

Son  of  God,  100,  203,  204, 

206. 

among  the  Doctors,  61. 

Jews,  Paul's  preaching  to  the, 
265,  278,  279,  283,  292,  318; 
their  attitude  toward  St.  Paul, 
265  sq.,  267  sq.,  293,  299;  ex- 
pelled from  Rome,  240,  282, 
317.  318. 

John  the  Baptist,  28,  34,  92 
sq.,  99,  289. 

John  the  Evangelist,  98,  99, 
269 ;  residence  in  Ephesus, 
346  sq.,  348  sq.;  death  and 
character  of,  350  sq. 

John,  the  Presbyter,  346  sq. 

Joppe,  28,  238  sq. 

Jordan,  14,  19. 

Joseph,  the  husband  of  Mary, 
34,  65. 

Joseph  of  Arimathea,  2l6. 


3^4 


INDEX. 


Judas  Iscariot,  124,  191, 194  sq., 

204,  229. 
Julius,  311  sq.,  318,  324. 

Khan  Minysh,  116. 

Kingdom  of  God,  no,  125  ;  in 

parables,  126  sq. 
of  Jesus,  205  sq. 

Lamb  of  God,  100. 

Laodicea,  288. 

Last  Supper,  193  sq. 

Law,  74,  82,  301  sq.,  306,  310. 

Lazarus,    his    resurrection    by 

Jesus,  168. 
Lebanon,  13,  22;  Anti-Lebanon, 

252. 
Leper,  118. 
Lesbos,  297. 

Luke  (St.),  275,  277,  311,  313. 
Lycaonia,  266. 
Lydda,  238. 

Lysias,  the  tribune,  303. 
Lystra,  266,  274,  275. 

Macedonia,  277,   285,  294  sq., 

322. 
Machoerus,  25. 
Magdala,  116  noU» 
Magi,  52  sq. 
Malta,  311  sq. 
Mamertine  prison,  325, 
Mariamne,  23,  24. 
Mark    (St.),   (John),    257,    260, 

274. 

relation  to  Peter,  336  sq. 

Mairriage,  the,  at  Cana,  loi  sq. 

the,  of  Mary,  37  sq. 

Mary  Magdalen,  220  sq. 

mother  of  Jesus,  34,  65. 

Matthew  or  Levi,  119. 


Matthias,  229. 

Messias,  28  sq.,  35,  86,  99  sq., 

113  sq.,  230. 
Miletus,  297,  322. 
Ministry   of   Jesus,   in   Judsea, 

III  sq. 

in  Galilee,  115  sq. 

length  of,  90. 

Missionary    journeys,    method 

of  Christ's  work,  117  sq. 
Moses,  123,  270  sq.,  302. 
Myra,  311. 

Nathanael,  99. 
Nativity,  39  sq. 
Nazareth,  34,  39,  63. 
Nero,  316  sq.,  324,  336,  353. 
Nicholas  of  Damascus,  26. 
Nicodemus,      converses     with 
Jesus,  no  sq. 

embalms  Jesus,  216. 

Nicopolis,  25,  322. 

OcTAvius  Augustus,  22  sq. 
Officers  of  the  synagogues,  81; 

in  the  early  Church,  354. 
Olives,  Mount  of,  108,  225. 
Oral  Law,  82. 
Ordination  of  deacons,  334. 

Palestine,  13  sq. 

Pamphylia,  264. 

Paphos,  261  sq. 

Parables,  notion  of,  126;  teach' 
ing  in,  126  sq. 

Paschal  Lamb,  191. 

Pastoral  epistles,  322. 

Patmos,  348. 

Paul  (St.),  birthplace  and  par- 
entage of,  245  sq. 

education,  247. 


INDEX. 


36s 


Paul,  conversion  of,  248  sq. 

in  Asia  Minor,  263  sq. 

attitude   toward  Gentiles, 

254,  276. 

in  Arabia,  251  sq. 

in  Syria  and  Cilicia,  255  sq. 

in  Jerusalem,  253  sq.,  255, 

298  sq. 

in  Galatia,  275  sq. 

in  Ephesus,  287  sq.,  290. 

in  Corinth,  283,  295  sq. 

in  Caesarea,  306  sq. 

in  Rome,  314.  316  sq.,  323 

sq. 

imprisonment   and  death, 

316  sq.,  323  sq. 
character,  326  sq. 

Pentecost,  121,  224,  229  sq.,  298, 
338,  350,  352,  355. 

Peraea,  15,  117. 

Perge,  264. 

Peter  (St.),  primacy  of,  224,  335 
sq. 

denials  of,  197.  202,  339. 

residence  and  death  in 

Rome,  333  sq. 

character  of,  338. 

visit  of  Christians,  237  sq. 

in  Antioch,  239  sq.,  371. 

Pharisees,  74,  86,  241. 

Phenicia,  13,  28,  239. 

Philip     the    Apostle,    99;    the 
deacon,  236  sq.,  298. 

Philippi,  278,  296,  322. 

Phrygia,  277. 

Pilate,  72  sq.,  205  sq. 

Pisidia,  266. 

Polycarp,  347. 

Pompey,  316,  317. 

Praetorium,  205  sq. 

Precursor,  34,  93  sq-»  *I3. 


Presentation  of  Jesus,  5a 

Presbyters,  354. 
Priests,  33,  79. 
Prophets,  354. 
Ptolemais  (Acre),  298. 
Purification,  49,  302. 
Purim,  feast  of,  121. 
Puteoli,  313. 

QuiRiNUs  or  Cyrinus  (sec  Cyri- 
nus;  Census). 

Release  of  St.  Paul,  318  sq. 
Return  of  Christ  from  Egypt, 

58. 
Resurrection  of  Jesus,  219  sq. 
Rhegium,  313. 
Roman,  Church,  333  sq. 

domination  over  Judaea, 71. 

Empire,  243,  302,  352  sq. 

Rome,  the  city  of,  281,  290,  316 

sq. 

the  Jews  in,  317  sq. 

the  Christians  in,  327  sq. 

Sadducees,  origin  and  tenets, 

74,  304. 
attitude  toward  Christ,  86, 

93. 

attitude  toward  the  early 

disciples,  232. 

Salamina,  261. 

Samaria,  the  Province  of,  15, 
17.  30,  113. 

Christ  in,  114  sq. 

Christianity  in,  237  sq. 

Samaritans,  75,  85,  113  sq. 

Sanhedrim,  origin  and  organi- 
zation, 83. 

Jesus  before  the,   122  sq., 

202  sq. 


366 


INDEX. 


Sanhedrim,  the  apostles  before 

the,  232,  303  sq. 
Sardis,  288,  290. 
Saul  of  Tarsus,  259  (see  Paul). 
Scribes,  81,  86. 
Sebaste,  24,  27  (see  Samaria). 
Sects  among  the  Jews,  74  sq. 
Selucia,  255. 
Sentius  Saturninus,  40. 
Sepulchre,  Holy,  211. 
Sergius  Paulus,  262. 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  125. 
^Shepherds  of  Bethlehem,  44. 
Sichem,  113  sq. 
Sidon,  25,  311. 

Silas,  271,  275,  278,  280,  283,  288. 
Simeon,  50. 
Simon,  of  Cyrene,  212. 

Peter  (see  Peter.) 

Sojourn  in  Egypt,  56  sq. 

Spain,  321,  352. 

Star  of  the  Magi,  53  sq. 

Stephen  (St.),  235  sq.,  248,  265. 

Supper,  the  last,  193  sq. 

Sychar,  114. 

Synagogue,  81,  235  sq.,  260. 

Syracuse,  313. 

Tabernacles,  the  feast  of,  121. 

Tacitus,  308. 

Talmud,  50  note. 

Tarsus,  245  sq.,255,  303,  327. 

Taurus,  246,  263,  275. 

Taxation  (Roman),  72. 

Tell  Hum,  116. 

Temple,  description  of,  75  sq. 

Temptation,  of  Christ,  96,  99. 


Tertullus,  306. 

Tetrarch,  22. 

Thabor,  18,  64. 

Thessalonica,   the   city  of,  278 

sq. ;  the  Jews  in,  279  sq. 
Thomas,  124,  223. 
Tiberias,  125. 
Tiberius,  72,  92,  209,  324. 
Timothy,  274,  276,  280,  283,  288, 

348. 
Titus,  269,  288,  295,  341. 
Transfiguration,  149. 
Trial  of  Jesus,  201  sq. 
Troas,  277,  294,  322. 
Trophimus,  302,  322. 
Twelve  selected,  the,  123  sq. 
Tyrannus,  293. 
Tyre,  25,  298. 

Varus,  40. 
Via  Appia,  314. 
Via  Dolorosa,  211. 
Visitation,  35. 
Vitellius,  73, 

Washing  of  feet,  194. 
Wilderness  of  Judaea,  93,  108, 
Worship  in  the  Early  Church, 
353. 

Year  of  Our  Lord's  birth,  42  sq. 
of  death  of  St.  Peter,  325 

sq. ;  of  St.  Paul's  death,  336 

sq. 

Zachary,  33,  92. 
Zebedee,  124,  341. 


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BACK  TO  THE  WORLD.     Champol. 

BALLADS  OF  CHILDHOOD.     Earls,  S.J. 

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BOND  AND  FREE.     Connor. 

"BUT  THY  LOVE  AND  THY  GRACE."     Finn,  S.J. 

BY  THE  BLUE  RIVER.     Clarke. 

CARROLL  DARE.     Waggaman. 

CATTLE  TRAIL  OF  THE  PRAIRIES. 

CIRCUS-RIDER'S   DAUGHTER.     Brackel. 

CLIMBING  THE  ALPS. 

CONNOR  D'ARCY'S  STRUGGLES.     Berthouw. 

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DAUGHTER  OF  KINGS,  A.     Hinkson. 

DION  AND  THE  SIBYLS.     Keon. 

DOUBLE  KNOT,  A.  AND  OTHER  STORIES. 

ELDER  MISS  AINSBOROUGH.     Taogart. 
ESQUIMAUX,  THE. 

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FATAL  BEACON,  THE.     Bracksu 
FAUSTULA.    Ayscoogh. 


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HER  FATHER'S  SHARE.     Power. 

HER  JOURNEY'S  END.     Cooke. 

IDOLS;    OR    THE    SECRET    OF    THE    RUE   CHAUSS'EE 

D'ANTIN.     Navkry. 
IN  GOD'S  GOOD  TIME.     Ross. 
IN  THE  DAYS  OF  KING  HAL.     Taggart. 
IN  SPITE  OF  ALL.     Staniforth. 
IVY  HEDGE,  THE.     Egan. 

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LIFE  UNDERGROUND. 

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"LIKE  UNTO  A  MERCHANT."     Gray. 

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MISS  ERIN.     Francis. 

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MR.  BILLY  BUTTONS.     Lecky. 

MY  LADY  BEATRICE.     Coooi. 

NOT  A  JUDGMENT.    Keon. 

ON  PATROL  WITH  A  BOUNDARY  RIDER 

ONLY  ANNE.     Clarke. 

OTHER  MISS  LISLE,  THE.     Martin. 

OUT  OF  BONDAGE.     Holt. 

OUTLAW  OF  CAMARGUE.     Lamothb. 

PASSSING  SHADOWS.     Yorke. 

PAT.      HiNKSON. 

PERE  MONNIER'S  WARD.    Lecky. 
PILKINGTON  HEIR,  THE.     Sadlier. 
PRISONERS'  YEARS.     Clarke. 
PRODIGAL'S  DAUGHTER,  THE.     B^GG. 
PROPHETS  WIFE,  THE.     Browne. 

RED  INN  OF  ST.  LYPHAR.     Sadlier. 

REST  HOUSE.  THE.     Clarke. 

ROAD   BEYOND    THE    TOWN,    AND   OTHER   POEMS. 

Earls,  S.J. 
ROSE  OF  THE  WORLD.     Martin. 

ROUND  TABLE  OF  AMERICAN  CATHOLIC  NOVELISTS. 
ROUND  TABLE  OF  FRENCH  CATHOLIC  NOVELISTS. 
ROUND  TABLE  OF  GERMAN  CATHOLIC  NOVELISTS. 

8 


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KOUND  TABLE  OF  IRISH  AND  ENGLISH  CATHOLIC 

NOVELISTS. 
RUBY  CROSS,  THE.     Wallace. 
RULER  OF  THE  KINGDOM,  THE.     Keon. 

SECRET  CITADEL,  THE.     Clarke. 
SECRET  OF  THE  GREEN  VASE.     Cooke. 
SENIOR    LIEUTENANT'S    WAGER,    THE,    AND 

STORIES 
SHADOW  of"  EVERSLEIGH,  THE.    Lansdowne. 
SHIELD  OF  SILENCE,  THE.     Henry-Ruffin. 
SO  AS  BY  FIRE.     Connor. 
SOGGARTH  AROON,  THE.     Guinan. 
SON  OF  SIRO.     Copus,  SJ. 
STORY  OF  CECILIA.     Hinksom. 
STREET  SCENES  IN  DIFFERENT  LANDS. 
STUORE.     (Stories.)     Earls,  S.J. 

TEMPEST  OF  THE  HEART,  THE.     Gray. 

TEST  OF  COURAGE,  THE.     Ross. 

THAT  MAN'S  DAUGHTER.     Ross. 

THEIR  CHOICE.     Skinner. 

THROUGH  THE  DESERT.     Sienkiewicz. 

TIDEWAY,  THE.     Ayscough. 

TRAIL  OF  THE  DRAGON,  THE,  AND  OTHER  STORIES,     net,  0  50 

TRAINING  OF  SILAS.     Devine.  net,  1  25 

TRUE  STORY  OF  MASTER  GERARD.     Sadlier.  net,  1  25 

TURN  OF  THE  TIDE.     Gray.  net,  0  75 

UNBIDDEN  GUEST,  THE.     Cooke.  net,  0  50 

UNDER  THE  CEDARS  AND  THE  STARS.  S'heehah.                 net,  1  50 

UNRAVELLING  OF  A  TANGLE.     Taggart.  net,  1  00 

UP  IN  ARDMUIRLAND.     Barrett,  O.S.B.  net,  1  25 

VOCATION  OF  EDWARD  CONWAY.     Egan.  net,  1  25 

WARGRAVE  TRUST,  THE.     Reid.  net,  1  25 

WAY  THAT  LED  BEYOND,  THE.     Harrison.  net,  1  00 

WEDDING  BELLS  OF  GLENDALOUGH.     Earls,  S.J.  net,  1  35 

WEST  AND  THE  GREAT  PETRIFIED  FOREST,  THE.  net,  0  50 

WHEN  LOVE  IS  STRONG.     Keon.  net,  1  25 

WINNING  OF  THE  NEW  WEST,  THE.  net,  0  50 

WOMAN  OF  FORTUNE.    Reid.  net,  1  25 


JUVENILES 

ADVENTURE  WITH  THE  APACHES.    FsaBv. 

ALTHEA.     Nirdlinger. 

AS  GOLD  IN  THE  FURNACE.     Copus. 

AS  TRUE  AS  GOLD.     Mannix. 

AT  THE  FOOT  OF  THE  SAND-HILLS.    Spalding. 

BELL  FOUNDRY.     Schaching. 

BERKLEYS,  THE.     Wight. 

BEST  'FOOT  FORWARD,  THE.     Finn. 

BETWEEN  FRIENDS.     Aumerle. 

BISTOURI.     Melandri. 

BLISSLYVANIA  POST-OFFICE,  THE.    Tag«A«T. 

BOB  O'LINK.     Waggaman. 

BROWNIE  AND  I.     Aumerle. 

BUNT  AND  BILL.     Mulholland. 

BY  BRANSCOME  river.     Taggart. 

CAMP  BY  COPPER  RIVER.     Spalding. 
CAPTAIN  TED.     Waggaman. 
CAVE  BY  THE  BEECH  FORK.    Spalding. 

9 


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CHARLIE  CHITTIWICK.     Bearnb. 

CHILDREN  OF  CUPA.     Mannix. 

CHILDREN  OF  THE  LOG  CABIN.     DelamasB. 

CLARE  LORAINE.     "Lee." 

CLAUDE  LIGHT/FOOT.     Finn. 

COLLEGE  BOY,  A.     Yorke. 

CUPA  REVISITED.     Mannix. 

CUPID  OF  CAMPION.    Finn. 

DADDY  DAN.     Waggaman. 
DEAR  FRIENDS'.     Nirdlinger. 
DIMPLING'S  SUCCESS.     MuLHOtlANSt 

ETHELRED  PRESTON.     Finn. 
EVERY-DAY  GIRL,  AN.     Crowley. 

FAIRY  OF  THE  SNOWS,  THE.     FinW. 
FIVE  BIRDS  IN  A  NEST.     Delamarb. 
FIVE  O'CLOCK  STORIES. 
FLOWER  OF  THE  FLOCK,  THE.     Egaw. 
FOR  THE  WHITE  ROSE.     Hinkson. 
FRED'S  LITTLE  EHAUGHTER.     Smith. 
FREDDY  CARR'S  ADVENTURES.     Garrold. 
FREDDY  CARR  AND  HIS  FRIENDS.     Garrou). 

GOLDEN  LILY,  THE.     Hinkson. 

GREAT  CAPTAIN,  THE.     Hinkson. 

GUILD  BOYS'  PLAY  AT  RIDINGDALE.     BearHI, 

HALDEMAN  CHILDREN,  THE.    Mannix. 

HARMONY  FLATS.     Whitmire. 

HARRY  DEE.     Finn. 

HARRY  RUSSELL.     Copus. 

HEIR  OF  DREAMS,  AN.     CMalley. 

HIS  FIRST  AND  LAST  APPEARANCE.     FiNW. 

HOSTAGE  OF  WAR,  A.     Bonesteel. 

HOW  THEY  WORKED  THEIR  WAY.     Egan. 

IN  QUEST  OF  ADVENTURE.     Mannix. 

IN  QUEST  OF  THE  GOLDEN  CHEST.     Barton. 

JACK.     Religious  H.  C.  J. 
JACK  HILDRETH  ON  THE  NILE.    Tag6art. 
JACK-0'LANTERN.     Waggaman. 
JUNIORS  OF  ST.  BEDE'S.     Bryson. 

JUVENILE    ROUND    TABLE.       First    Series,    Second    Series, 
Third  Series,  each, 

KLONDIKE  PICNIC.  A.    Donnelly. 

LEGENDS'  AND   STORIES  OF  THE  HOLY  CHILD  JESUS. 
Lutz. 

LITTLE  APOSTLE  ON  CRUTCHES.     Delamarb. 

LITTLE  GIRL  FROM  BACK  EAST.     Roberts. 

LITTLE  LADY  OF  THE  HALL.     Ryeman. 

LITTLE  MARSHALLS  AT  THE  LAKE.     Nixon-RootJW. 

LITTLE  MISSY.     Waggaman. 

LOYAL  BLUE  AND  ROYAL  SCARLET.    Tag«a*t. 

LUCKY  BOB.     Finn. 

MAD  KNIGHT,  THE.     S'chaching. 
MADCAP  SET  AT  ST.  ANNE'S.     BrunoWI. 
MAKING  OF  MORTLAKE.     Copus. 
MAN  FROM  NOWHERE,  THE.     Sadlier. 
MARKS  OF  THE  BEAR  CLAWS.     SPAtDHfa 
MARY  TRACY'S  FORTUNE.    Sablier. 

10 


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040 

MELOR  OF  THE  SILVER  HAND.     Bxaknb.  1  00 

MILLY  AVELING.     Smith.  met,  0  50 

MIRALDA.     Johnston.  net.  0  40 

MORE  FIVE  O'CLOCK  STORIES.  net.  0  50 

MOSTLY  BOYS.     Finn.  I  00 

MYSTERIOUS  DOORWAY.     Saduek.  net.  0  40 

MYSTERY  OF  CLEVERLY.     Bartok.  net.  0  50 

MYSTERY  OF  HORNBY  HALL.     SadlieB,  net.  0  50 

NAN  NOBODY.     Waggaman.  net.  0  40 

NED  REIDER.  V/ehs.  net,  0  50 

NEW  BOYS  AT  RIDINGDALE.     BlAtJnE.  1  00 

NEW  SCHOLAR  AT  ST.  ANNE'S.     Brunowb.  net.  0  50 

OLD  CHARLMONT'S  SEED-BED.     Smith.  mtt.  0  40 

OLD  MILL  ON  THE  WITHROSE.     Spalding.  1  00 

ON  THE  OLD  CAMPING  GROUND.     Manni^  1  00 

OUR  LADY'S  LUTENIST.     Bearne.  1  00 

PANCHO  AND  PANCHITA.     Mannix,  net.  0  40 

PAULINE  ARCHER.     Sadliee.  net.  0  40 

PERCY  WYNN.     Finn.  1  00 

PERIL  OF  DIONYSIO,  THE.     Mannix.  net.  0  40 

PETRONILLA,  AND  OTHER  STORIES.     DoNNBLlY.  net,  0  SO 

PICKLE  AND  PEPPER.     Dorsey.  1  00 

PILGRIM  FROM  IRELAND.     Carnot.  net.  0  40 

PLAYWATER  PLOT,  THE.     Waggaman.  net,  0  50 

POLLY  DAY'S  ISLAND.     Roberts.  1  00 

POVERINA.     Buckenham.  net.  0  50 

QUEEN'S  PAGE,  THE,     Hinkson.  net,  0  40 

QUEEN'S  PROMISE,  THE.     Waggamak.  net.  0  50 

QUEST  OF  MARY  SELWYN.     Clementia.  1  00 

RACE  FOR  COPPER  ISLAND.     Spalding.  1  00 

RECRUIT  TOMMY  COLLINS.     Bonesteei^  net.  0  40 

RIDINGDALE  FLOWER  SHOW.     Bearne.  1  00 

ROMANCE  OF  THE  SILVER  SHOON.     Bba«n«.  1  00 

ST.  CUTHBERT'S.    Copus.  1  00 

SANDY  JOE.    Waggaman.  1  00 

SEA-GULL'S  ROCK.     Sandkau.  met,  0  40 

SEVEN  LITTLE  MARSHALLS.     NixON-RoOTW.  net,  0  40 

SHADOWS  LIFTED.     Copus.  1  00 

SHEER  PLUCK.     Bearne.  1  00 

SHERIFF  OF  THE  BEECH  FORK.     Spaloino.  1  00 

SHIPMATES.     Waggaman.  net,  0  50 

STRONG-ARM  OF  AVALON.     Waggaman.  1  00 

SUGAR  CAMP  AND  AFTER.     Spalding.  1  00 

SUMMER  AT  WOODVILLE,  A.     Sadlier.  net,  0  40 

TALES  AND  LEGENDS  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES'.     Cape»a.  net.  0  50 

TALISMAN,  THE.     Sadlier.  net,  0  50 

TAMING  OF  POLLY,  THE.     Dorsey.  1  00 

THAT  FOOTBALL  GAME.     Finn.  1  00 

THAT  OFFICE  BOY.     Finn.  1  00 
THREE  LITTLE  GIRLS.  AND  ESPECIALLY  ONE.     Taggart.  net,  0  40 

TOLD  IN  THE  TWILIGHT.     Salom».  net,  0  50 

TOM  LOSELY:  BOY.     Copus.  1  00 

TOM  PLAYFAIR.    Finn.  1  ^0 

TOM'S  LUCK-POT.    Waggamaw.  net,  0  40 

TOORALLADDY.     Walsh.  net,  0  40 

TRANSPLANTING  OF  TESSIE.     Wagsamah.  net.  0  50 

TREASURE  OF  NUGGET  MOUNTAIN.    Taggart.  net.  0  50 

TWO  LITTLE  GIRLS.     Mack.  net.  0  40 

UNCLE  FRANK'S  MARY.     Clementia.  1  00 

UPS'  AND  D0W3«S  OF  MARJORIE.    Waggauah.  mt$,  0  40 

U 


VIOLIN  MAKER,  THE.    Adapted  by  Saxa  Thaime»  Skitb.        •«*.  0  40 

WAYWARD  WINIFRED.     Saduer.  1  00 

WINNETOU,  THE  APACHE  KNIGHT.     Tagcart.  ntt,  0  50 

WITCH  OF  RIDINGDALE.    Bearnb.  1  00 

YOUNG  COLOR  GUARD.    Bonestsou  •««,  0  40 

FATHER  LASANCE'S  PRAYER-BOOKS 

MY  PRAYER-BOOK.  Imitation  leather,  red  edges,  $1.25,  and 
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THE  CATHOLIC  GIRL'S  GUIDE.  Imitation  leather,  red 
edges,  $1.25,  and  in  finer  bindings. 

THE  NEW  MISSAL  FOR  EVERY  DAY.  Imitation  leather, 
red  edges,  $1.50,  and  in  finer  bindings. 

THE  SUNDAY  MISSAL.  Imitation  leather,  red  edges,  75 
cents,  and  in  finer  bindings. 

MANNA  OF  THE  SOUL.  Vest-pocket  Edition.  Silk  ctoth. 
40  cents,  and  in  finer  bindings. 

MANNA  OF  THE  SOUL.  Extra-Large-Type  Edition.  Imi- 
tation leather,  red  edges,  $1.25,  and  in  finer  bindings. 

Complete  list  of  Father  Lasance's  prayer-books  sent  on  appli- 
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(P/JAJ 


DATE  DUE 

rfv^iii  "t; 

lyj /•('^••'■w'fff^v! 

'  mmtm^ 

ill* 

WC?    1S 

Si 

M^    ^9 

(2 

GAYLORD 

PRINTED  IN  U.S.A. 

